Afterlife
by GrimMoody
Summary: Bass is in the X series in this sequel to my Apocalypse Trilogy. Surprise!  An update!
1. Mavericks

X wished that he hadn't read that book. Robotics: Futile Questions for the Mechanical Future was far too depressing. Though almost everything about the early robotics age was optimistic, there was one lone voice, a now unknown Ben Foster, who all but prophesied what would happen. He questioned everything that Dr. Light had accomplished, saying things like "if you elevate a robot to a human's level, can't you expect that robot to be not only as intelligent, but also as violent as man?" or "freedom for robots will not come to pass easily when robots were originally meant for service to man. That mindset of servitude can only result in confusion or bitterness against the men that ruled them".

X couldn't help but shudder. That was while he now quietly dwelt just outside Maverick Hunter Headquarters, to meditate on the physical world and dispense with all foul thinking. He liked being outside, away from all the business and busyness of the organization. Out here there were guards, but other than that, just the outer wall and green grasses. On a beautiful morning like this, it was easy for X to close his eyes and pretend that there was no war going on. And X was definitely sick of war.

He breathed out a sigh, letting the fresh sun shine on him peacefully, reminding him that not all things were dark and corrupt. Long ago, there had been days when reploids - robots rather - were not seen as menaces, but as signs of progress, signs that there was a good future ahead of all people. X found himself perusing the stored data he had in his mind, put there long ago by his creator. He had done so many times, though in the past year he had been avoiding it. Sometimes it was too painful to look at the optimistic past, knowing that they thought their future was going to be a lot better than it had turned out to be.

It wasn't so bad now. X had to ignore any pain he did feel, because this was all he had of his family - Dr. Light, Proto Man, Mega Man, and Roll. His fondness for all of them brightened him. He had the most data on his second brother Rock, his in-faith predecessor. Newsreels and computer memories of him (likely copied from Roll's CPU) filled X's mental vision, and X loved every megabyte of his brother's heroism. Mega Man had things that he missed out on, not only family but also brightness and a persistant cheer that no matter what situation he was in, that everything was going to be alright. How X wished that he could be the same way!

Roll was dear to him, though he had never met her. She stayed by Dr. Light's side, caring for him and their household in perfect content. X often wondered about how she could be so happy with so "unimportant" a role in life compared to her brother. But that was exactly the point, and it warmed X to think of it: life is not about war, and to be employed in a life of peace is a blessing. Roll was not a warrior, but she made peace what it should be. Bright and full of joy.

His data on Proto Man was sketchy at best. He knew a little about Blues' origins, but guessing from what was on his mind, he could tell that this was a subject carrying a lot of pain for Dr. Light. There was little for X to see, though Rock had made an effort to share his memories of their solitary brother, and X too believed that Proto Man would have done anything for good, and that whenever he hid he would be sure to reappear.

All of that was not to ignore the negatives of the past, and X found himself searching around his data of Dr. Wily. His scowl deepened, looking especially harsh with his eyelids tightly jammed together. He knew about each of the wars, some worse than others. He knew a little about each of the robot masters, though mostly of the Cossack-bots.

Unfortunately, Dr. Light had seen fit to include data on Dr. Wily, and X sourly wished he could get away with knowing nothing about the man. Dr. Wily's foul smirk and decrepit laughter never failed to strike up a good dose of rage in X. He hated everything about him. How could a man work so close with Dr. Light, the greatest of robotics' minds, and still come out as a greedy, evil, and murderous man?

X relaxed a little and settled his hands on his knees. Why was this man making him so angry? After all, he had encountered far more threatening rivals in his encounters with the Mavericks. All the same, he knew how the Maverick virus worked. It always worked from whatever hatred or bitterness already existed in that reploid, but from there it rewrote the reploid's personality to increase their violence and hatred. On the other hand, Wily needed no help being evil.

The blue reploid let his thoughts wander off to someone he didn't think about often: Bass. Bass was an oddity to him, much of it in his looks (were those headfins supposed to make him look like a cobra or something? And why would Wily think that purple stripes over his eyes were intimidating?) but so too in his behavior. Bass always threatened and challenged Mega Man no matter how many times he had lost before and still insist that he was the greatest robot ever built. It was pathetic.

Even weirder was Bass' turn from evil to good. How could someone as stubborn as the dark robot even think of abandoning his relentless rivalry? Dr. Light himself had left glowing compliments of this change in X's head, and had asked X to trust Bass despite a clear warning about Forte's irrationality. There was also a mention of Bass' technician, Crystal Bot, who had been created with stolen X parts. To X she just an example of very bad mishandling of his own technology - she was so much a child, with no understanding of reality. X questioned why someone like Bass would tolerate her.

Why was he thinking of Bass today? X opened his eyes and shook his head. There was no point. He'd had no opportunity to trust any of the older robots, much less Bass. He knew nothing from his programmed in data about the robot apocalypse, but a few rumors had escaped the successing dark age. X avoided these rumors when he could, but it was inevitable that at one point or another he would hear them. The only clear thing was that his entire family was dead, and for good or ill Bass was too. Bitterness started to bite at him, and X made himself look at the bright day and meditate on the sounds of the city. He was not in a warped, apocalyptical land, he was in Arcadia, a populous city that served as the base for the Maverick Hunters. His brothers and sister were likewise a dream. They could never be anything more, so why not focus on what warmth he had for reality?

This was X's regular ritual. He had to get used to the world he was in, if nothing else but to stave of his imaginings, which were altogether much worse. He did it often enough, so it was very easy for Zero and Axl to find him. As they approached, X smiled curiously in their direction. They, more than anything else, pulled him out of his dank musings.

"Alright, here he is." Zero said to Axl. "Now what was it you wanted to tell us?"

"Sorry to bother you guys, I just couldn't help it!" the hyper robot exclaimed. Both of his friends had never seen him so excited. "I finally found out where my copy shot comes from!"

X sat up with happy interest as Axl continued. "Apparently I was created by Reiko Inafune in Giga City. She was a scientist working on my generation of robot specifically for being immune to the maverick virus. Everyone said that she was the most brilliant mind since Dr. Cain, though..." Axl's voice trailed off, and his smile faded. "Though she really never got to show her true talent because she was killed in a Maverick attack, and her entire lab was destroyed. But I asked around, and I found out that I was based on two different first generation robots. No one knows their names, but their serial numbers were - "

A transmission from Alia interrupted. _" - X, a curator of a museum in Giga City is reporting what he thinks may be Maverick activity, and he's requesting a Hunter investigation. - "_

Axl was horrified. _" - Please don't say it was Giga Central Museum of Robotic History! - "_

The others stared at him as a confused Alia confirmed his fears. _" - Uh, yes, that's the one. - "_

"I can't believe it!" Axl exclaimed in horror. "At the exact wrong time, too! Okay...X, Zero, let's go!"

Before either of them could object or even question why, Axl had teleported out. The two looked at each other with mild confusion.

"You know," X chuckled, folding his arms. "Sooner or later he's going to have learn that he's not exactly the boss around here."

Zero shrugged. "Well, let's go see what's got him excited."

Once they arrived, they did indeed find a mess that was rather Maverick-esque. Several displays in the original generation section were smashed, and the floor was covered in transparent display shards. The curator, brown-haired reploid Aengus R, was nervously flitting about, all at once wanting to clean things up and yet trying not to disturb a crime area, fidgeting uneasily as he fought between his two urges. His blue coat, lined with panels colored like stained glass, billowed out behind him as he paced back and forth. Zero eyed him a bit, but investigated the room quietly, absorbing every sight.

Pain went through X as he watched a now miserable Axl try to figure out what happened to the huge, and now shattered display case. The once modern and artistic case was empty of everything but a few wires that used to hold up the vanished exhibit. X could only imagine what was going through Axl's head at that moment. He had never seen the young reploid this upset before. The despondent Axl stared at the empty wires with depression. He finally knew his mysterious origins, only for this to happen.

"Those panels...they weren't glass..." Aengus R spoke up nervously. "Those are special translucent panels made from a plasticine-metal alloy for high impact resistance. Anything that can break through them has got to be very strong."

"He was here..." Axl said, refering in despair to the large, now empty display. "One of the first generation robots that I was based on."

"Hm, your armor, well, it vaguely looks like his." Aengus rubbed his chin in thought. "But I'm not sure I would have noticed the resemblance if you hadn't said anything."

"What robot was this?" X asked.

"We don't know his name, just his serial number: SWN-001."

"Special Wily Number 1...that's Bass!" X gasped, turning with a furrowed brow to Aengus R. "Why didn't anyone inform me of his discovery?"

Both Zero and Axl, who had heard X's stories of all the older generation robots, paid fervent attention to the curator as he answered. "To be honest, X, we thought he was partially a hoax. His armor was so advanced, and if he had been buried for more than a century, well, it held up very well. Too well, unless his armor was simply rebuilt after he was found. The chances of its endurance are slim to none when it comes to robots of that era. But, how can you possibly know his name?"

"Dr. Light left information about all the original robots on my database." X answered, folding his arms. "You should have contacted me anyway. I could have at least confirmed his identity."

"Bass...the real Bass?" Axl said with amazement. "He was one of the original heroes, right?"

"He didn't start out that way. He was created Dr. Wily to stop my brother, Rock." X answered, growling as he mentioned the mad scientist's name. "But he resisted his creator's evil and joined the heros thanks to Dr. Light. I don't have a lot of data after his change, but I had assumed that he died in the apocalypse along with the others. To be honest, Axl, I really doubt that they could possibly have found the real Bass. From what rumors exist of that time period, his parts were recycled. You can't get your hopes up."

Axl nodded, trying to understand, but X couldn't help but think that what he said was a load. Someone from the distant past had survived, and it was Forte, the self-centered, fin-headed rival of his brother. Even besides the unfairness of it all, he was just plain dreading coming into contact with Bass.

"Let's focus on what we're doing now." Zero spoke up. As much as he respected X, the blue robot's habits of going on tangents annoyed him a little. "Aengus R, what can you tell us about the damage done to the museum?"

"Well, here's the funny thing. Only this room was disturbed. Whoever did this was only interested in our first generation exhibit."

"So they were trying to take information from the faked Bass' mind?" X guessed.

"No, that's impossible." The artistic reploid objected. "Whatever happened to SWN-001 in the past completely wiped out his data. We're talking a serious EMP that goes way past the normal robot protection measures. There is nothing in his brain that could possibly have been recovered. People have tried, but they knew very quickly that there was nothing left."

"Oh really?" Zero mentioned, walking over toward Axl. "You keep talking as if someone came and stole him, but look at the display case. This 'glass' was broken from the inside. Look at this damage pattern. It's pretty obvious."

"What?" Axl's bright eyes widened with excitement. "You mean he could still be alive?"

"Not possible! He was beyond repair!" The curator stared at the broken display, trying to see what Zero saw. "I can even show you his scans."

"There are no guarantees. If he is alive, he's in a completely unfamiliar environment." X said. "Axl, I'm transmitting Bass' teleportation code to you. If he is the real Bass, then you should be able to get some teleportation data and trace him. If he's not or if the code doesn't work for some reason, then just search for any reports of a robot with his description. Zero and I will join the search after we do a little more investigating here."

"Right!"

Axl teleported out, and X smiled a bit to see how excited his friend was, and he wished the young reploid success silently. As Zero and Aengus R spoke, X gazed around the room. He had never been inside the museum before, and this room, or what was left of it, intruiged him. He noticed overall that the damage to it wasn't that bad, except to the display that held the robot, and another on the far wall. What kind of Maverick would bother damaging so little, even if they were only after one thing? The hero went over to the far wall to investigate.

"So why would you put a robot that you believe is a hoax in the museum?" Zero asked the curator.

"What we do know for certain is that he was buried underground for decades at the very least. And you could tell from simply from looking at him that he was definitely designed as an oldstyle robot. And well...we needed to put up something. Even fake he was a remarkable example of how the earliest robotic technicians designed robots. From an engineering standpoint, he was completely authentic. He's not modern at all."

"That's ironically dishonest for someone trying to teach history." Zero remarked. "X, you should have...X?"

The blue robot was absorbed by a display, horrified. Zero approached him to get a look for himself, and the curious Aengus R couldn't help but join them. There in the now smashed display was a helmet like X's own, though simpler, smaller, and more round. It had a frightening gash on the left side, as if a beam saber had sliced through it to the head of the robot underneath. Below it was the placard, and it was supposed to read, "an example of an oldstyle helmet". That, however, was difficult to read as someone had scrawled two words over it with a piece of the broken display panel, bending the thin sheet of metal with thick handwriting.

"Rock's helmet".

X and Zero looked at each other. Aengus R, however, was completely confused.

"What? Who is Rock?"

"We're definitely dealing with the real Bass here." X's voice took on that sense of determination it always did when a mission was on hand. "Rock didn't go by his original name so there's no reason for anyone other than those who really knew him to use it."

Zero took this information curiously, but otherwise had no reaction. "If Bass is a former enemy, is he going to be any trouble?"

"I don't know anything for sure." X answered. "Dr. Light trusted him, but we can't assume he going to take it well that he's obsolete. The sooner we have him off the streets the sooner we can find out."

Zero nodded. "Let's get searching then."

"I don't understand..." Aengus R complained as the Hunters prepared to leave. "Who is Rock?"

X smiled, glancing back at the helmet wistfully, and not just a little grateful. "He's my brother, Mega Man. Take good care of that helmet, Aengus."

The curator, wide-eyed, turned back to the piece. He remembered buying it at what he thought then was an exorbitant price, but now he knew that he could have paid double for it and still have made a marvelous deal.

"I will!" Aengus R exclaimed. "This will be the new centerpiece for the oldstyle display!"

But as he turned around, he saw that the Hunters were already gone.

The dark robot was in a terrible mood. He had just woken up in the last place he had ever wanted to be with no descernible sign of anyone he recognised, and the one robot he especially wanted to see had been nowhere to be found. He stared at himself with disgust. Though all of his original armor was there, he could sense foreign computer data in him, as if certain pieces of his mind had been replaced with radically different technology. And as he lifted his left arm up and down, he could feel the cheap joint clamps that the museum must have put in him. However long it had been since he had deactivated and woken again, something must have damaged him. And that left an opening for display repairs.

_Of course that stupid museum would give me only the cheapest, crap parts. Crystal Bot better be around here somewhere..._

But the thing that enraged Bass the most had been the helmet. Rock, the great Mega Man, the hero of the early robotic age and protector of the earth countless times over, was now gone. The only sign of him left was a broken helmet. Not for a moment did Bass mistake it for anyone else's. He could have identified it from a mile off. Worse yet, the very museum dedicated to protecting history didn't have a clue what it was. And the absolute worst of all was the beam saber gash in it. Hideous cursings and dark thoughts emerged and ran through Bass' mind as he thought of the gash.

_Zero...he killed Rock..._

Bass pounded an unsightly crater in the alleyway's brick wall. Overall, he wasn't sure how he felt about the simple fact of Rock's death, but thinking about who had done him in drove the black and gold robot to rage. Jealousy mixed in with regret filled him, and he couldn't figure out if he would rather have saved Mega Man or killed the blue bomber himself, priding himself that it would at least be a better death for Rock rather than at the hands of the red, girly monster.

But he forced himself to calm down. What little time he had spent in the robot museum had informed him that Mega Man X was still alive. And if X was alive, then Zero couldn't be.

_Zero definitely would have killed Mega Man X if he had the chance._ Bass figured. _So either the army got Zero, or maybe Rock managed to wound the guy bad enough before Zero got him. Heh, I knew that ugly thing wouldn't work out. Wily sucks, as usual._

Grumpily, Bass leaned up against the wall, wishing he could remember what happened to him. His last recollection was of Crystal Bot telling him to back up his memory right as he was about to fight Algorhythm Man. He gagged.

_I really hope that Zero showed up and did something. If I'm going to be defeated by anyone, it better not be that retarded Algorhythm Man._

But there was nothing to be done about it. Bass decided that his next move would be to find X. Not that he cared that much about the new bomber, but it was probably the best way to find anyone he knew and figure out what he could do from there. If any of them were alive. From what he we was able to figure out so far, Roll, Auto, or Crystal Bot could still be operational. And then there was also Dr. Light, stored away safely in the computer. If X had made it, then surely Dr. Light did too. This thought alone relieved Bass no small amount. All the same, he was still alone, frustrated, and full of amaturish "repairs" that would do little more than hold him together. He hoped that Crystal Bot was somewhere with X...though she had better have a good reason to leave him in the museum for so long.

Bass was tired of thinking things over. Actually, he was just plain tired. He couldn't identify what it was, but his power core wasn't operating normally. If he had to guess, he would say that a connection had come undone somewhere. He was going to have to power down, and soon. Bass growled as he looked out of the alleyway into the town. This "Giga City" appeared to be some sort of mining town, and everything centered around that. What reason was there for X, a fighter-bot, to show up any time soon? The dark robot retreated back into the alley.

_Hey, wait a minute. I have energy crystals in my arm from my double buster upgrades!_

Bass did a quick check of his arms, and sure enough, the power in the crystals would keep him going for a few hours, if he was careful and didn't push himself too far. Switching his power around, he managed to put his power core in rest mode. He could feel an immediate decrease in his energy, and he growled slightly. But the sooner he found X, the sooner he could get a decent repair. Energy crystals could only go so far, and for a power-hungry machine like this Wily-bot, that far wasn't very far at all.

"Hey, you!"

"Who are you shouting at now?"

"That guy down there? Don't you recognise him?"

"Oh yeah, that's the guy from the robot museum. Well whaddayaknow?"

He was known for being "that guy in the robot museum"? Bass' fangs showed themselves as he looked up towards the very goofy voices that were entering from the other side of the alley. Two very odd things that he assumed were some sort of robots approached him, one looking rather like a polygon-ish mole in bright red, yellow, and dull blue coloring. The other had the appearance of a hump-backed, armored goose, complete with needle fangs and and a spiked collar.

_Ugh, who would make a robot as fat as that mole? And how does that ugly bird think its going to fight with stumpy legs like that?_

Bass's disgust at them was obvious, but this only seemed to amuse the approaching machines as they approached and inspected him with their ugly eyes and devious grins. The dark robot automatically equipped his buster.

"Oh, look at that, Spade." the goose said. "He's one of those models with the built-in buster. Hey there, mister. Nobody uses those anymore."

"Don't be rude now." the mole chortled before addressing Bass. "What this dummy here really means to say is that he's Brannigan Vee, and it's quite the pleasure to meet you. I'm Spade Lentigo. And you are...?"

"Bass." he answered firmly, still cautious, thinking that their names were dumber than their appearances. "Remember it. Now what exactly were you saying about my buster?"

"It's old! Nobody uses it!" Brannigan answered. "Except for that X character. Surely you've heard of _him_."

"No." Bass lied.

The two robots looked at each other, and Spade snorted as he laughed. The whole conversation seemed like a joke to them.

"Why, he's the lead fighter of those oppressive Maverick Hunters!" the mole explained. "Imagine not knowing that! All us perfectly innocent reploids just want a society of our own, and he goes and labels us Maverick, then hunts us down for sport! Him and his stupid friends!"

Bass rolled his eyes. Anyone who really was "perfectly innocent" wouldn't bother labelling themselves that way.

"So what's a reploid?"

The pair stared and blinked at him. An instant later, horrible, screeching squawks and malevolent, rolling grunts filled the air, which Bass took for some pale mockery of laughter. Forte's face shrivelled into pure hate, but this had the unfortunate affect of only making them louder.

"He's just an innocent little obsolete thing!" Brannigan Vee could barely speak, he was laughing so hard. "He really doesn't know anything!"

"Ha, ha, oh shut up, old fool, ha ha! Don't be so rude." Spade jokingly shoved his friend aside before addressing Bass. "All kidding aside, you're alright! Why don't you come with us? We'll have some good times and tell you what's really going on in this day and age! Bwahahaha! Bless your soul!"

"Shut up, both of you."

The deep, hissing voice, barely on the edge of sinister, came from the roof of one of the buildings above. Long, thin legs with jagged spikes like a giant's sewing needles stuck on them came from over the rooftop and clung tightly to the brick, propelling a very small body down to the ground. While most of it was spiderish, instead of the normal hanging body there was the form of a man there, with a human-like face only obscured by two large mandibles.

"Ah!" Spade Lentigo looked up at the spider robot as it descended. "Here we are. Bass, meet Recluse Stradivarius. All's of us call him Straddles, but he doesn't quite like new aquaintences - "

"Put a sock in it, Spade." Recluse snapped. "You talk too much. Both of you are on the job, remember? Now get back to it!"

"Aw, C'mon, Straddles." Brannigan complained. "We only wanted to have some fun with this new guy here."

"Oh, leave him alone. He's got nothing to do with us, and there's not a reploid dumb enough in the world to go along with you two idiots."

"But he's not a reploid! Said so himself! He's from the robot museum."

"Then someone will be looking for him, stupid! Now let's get going." Recluse put a long leg on each of his apparent companions' shoulders and started directing them away. "I don't know why Dire puts up with you imbeciles, but you're at least going to do your part of the work before I knock the both of you more senseless than you already are."

Bass stood there, a little stunned, and far more than a little disgusted. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why a human would bother to build such annoying robots such as those, with their ugly designs, personalities, and names. They were at least ten times dumber than anything Wily ever built, Bass decided. But even that brief thought of his creator brought his mood down even further, so he just forced the thought away and turned to leave. Only he didn't.

Just as he had turned, a bright gleam shone in the corner of his eye, a familiar gleam. Turning back as the three annoying robots were exiting the other side of the alley, Bass noticed the shiny object in Recluse Stradivarius' human hand. He seemed to be tossing it to himself almost habitually, like it was some sort of charm or keepsake.

"Hey you, Stradivarius, what is that?"

The spider-roid turned back to the dark robot, finally addressing Bass directly. "Oh, this thing? It's something of mine, that's all. Why? Do you know what it is?"

Hastily the spider clambered back down the alley, deftly pulling himself over a dumpster as if it wasn't there. Spade and Brannigan, ever amused by pretty much anything, seemed glad to be bothering the older robot again, and they followed along at a more casual pace. Arriving at Bass, Recluse lowered the object to allow him to see it.

It was just what Bass feared. The object was perfectly round, like a glass orb that shone even in the dim streetlights of the alley. Except it wasn't glass, but crystal. A sinking feeling made itself known. Bass reached out to take the orb, but Recluse quickly pulled his hand back.

"Now, you tell me what this is." the spider held it above his head tauntingly. "What is it? A power source? An energy diverter? Something good, no?"

No one ever successfully took that tone with Bass. The black and gold robot scowled, getting into Recluse's face to make himself perfectly clear.

"Not until you tell me where you got it."

"Hmph, fair enough, but it's not much of a story." Recluse frowned and raised himself up a little higher. "Some old friends of mine went on a mission some years ago, and well...no one really knows what happened. They were destroyed, and so was the laboratory they were after. A group of misfits called Red Alert got there afterwards, and if there was anything they knew was really valuable, they took it. I found this orb in the wreckage some time afterwards. I think it was being operated by a reploid, but there wasn't much left of that poor soul."

Bass' eyes widened for only a moment before they sank downwards and met with the ground. Quiet rage filled him, and he spoke up, "What happened to Red Alert?"

"All dead!" Spade announced. "Those Maverick Hunters declared them Maverick and killed them all!"

Bass was far from believing the giant mole, but when the spider-roid saw Bass' disbelief, he spoke up again. "Lentigo is stupid, but what he says is true. And by the way, you two, I believe I told you to get back to the mission! Our plan won't work if you two slack!"

"Aw, Straddles, we want to see what happens!" Brannigan complained with a honk.

"Let's get on, X won't destroy himself!" Spade patted the goose on the shoulder as he pulled him away.

"Shut up and leave!" Recluse hissed. "Don't say the plan in front of him! Now I have to destroy him so that those meddling Hunters won't find out! Right when I was about to find out what this thing was too!"

Before Recluse realized it, he had taken a plasma blast to the face. Staggering away from the dark robot, it took a moment for his eyes to clear and see Bass shaking with fury. His red eyes shone and a hideous scowl revealed his fangs, and the fact that he was ready to rip them apart.

"Oh, you'll destroy me then?" Bass hissed. "I've been deactivated somehow and in a stupid _robot museum _for over thirty years because I was fighting to save Mega Man X from getting destroyed by losers like you! And now you think you're going to get him? Not before you get past me!"

There was silence for a moment, and in that moment the three strangers all looked at each other curiously. And then broke that silence with laugher. But that was the absolute worst thing they could have done. Again taking advantage of Recluse, it took Bass only five seconds to tear off one of the spider's legs and smack Brannigan Vee in the face with it. But the spider wasn't going to just take that. His other spiked legs swooped down to hit the offender, but Bass dodged each one gracefully and even easily, despite the museum parts making his limbs a little more awkward to move.

The battle brought relief and even a grim joy to Bass as he dodged the shots. But as he fired his busters, he saw that they did little damage to these goons. Fire as he might, his pellets were simply too weak to do much to their armor. They renewed their mocking laughter, and the wild goose shouldered his cannon.

"I've got it, Straddles!"

It was fortunate for Stradivarius that he was able to dodge quickly, as a cannon blast from Brannigan went streaking through to Bass, smacking him backwards into the side of the nearby dumpster.

"Ha, that gets him. Good job, Vee!" Spade high fived his friend's wing.

But much to their surprise, it did apparently nothing to Bass. He was up only a moment later, firing his double blasters to wreck some vengance against Brannigan. Rolling under Recluse's legs, Bass dodged Spade, who was burrowing up from the ground right where Bass had been standing. Spade took rocks from the ground and charged them with some sort of electrical attack, but even when they did hit Bass, they did shockingly little damage. Bass could feel some of his joints acting up, but he shook it off, only angrier than before.

"What's going on?" Spade began to despair. "Nobody can handle my powerful attacks! Who is this guy?"

Recluse tried to catch the dark robot in his webs, hoping to drain his power, but Bass jumped out of the way, barely in time. As the fight dragged on, Bass knew that things weren't going well. His armor was advanced enough to keep them from doing much to him damagewise (knockback was another story), but his weapon was too weak to do much to them. He found that it was just easier to punch, kick, or rip off limbs, but his unreliable repairs were starting to loosen, making it harder to continue. But Bass still grinned. He had his battle AI, and the goose and mole robots weren't flexible fighters. Recluse was the problematic one. In any case, this was still going to be Bass' least favorite kind of fight - the long, drawn out, boring kind. He didn't entertain the possibility of defeat.

"Hey! You guys leave him alone!"

A fourth robot arrived, and Bass managed a quick glance at him. This was one more human-like than the others, was black armored, and had somewhat reddish hair, though that was really all he could see before dodging another rock from Spade. Also, watching Bass in the fight made the newcomer gawk in apparent surprise. He was clearly impressed. He joined in and started pummeling Recluse Stradivarius with rapid-fire shots of his own, though Spade's handiness at throwing his rocks took the stranger by surprise.

Bass grinned deviously. Feeling like showing off a bit, Bass dashed over to Brannigan. As the goose fired his cannon, Bass kicked it out of the way, and the blast instead hit Spade with a fatal blow, giving the robot a chance to dash off in the ensuing explosion.

"Alright!" the newcomer cheered, throwing a celebratory fist into the air. "Go, Dad!"

_"What the hell did you call me?"_ Bass yelled in his direction before another shot from Brannigan reminded him what he was doing. He found a moment to thrust an accusing finger in the stranger's direction as he glared. "You don't go anywhere!"

Axl gasped. He couldn't believe that those words had come out of his mouth. He couldn't help it. But that would have to be put aside. There were still two more enemies to deal with, and he and Bass were going to have to work together to get out of this.

Axl took on Recluse, and his hovering and powerful shots (which would have made Bass green with envy if he'd had the time to notice) enabled him to make short work of the spider-roid. Without his mole partner, Brannigan was in danger. Bass' quick dashing out-maneuvered the goose-bot with ease. Deciding he was getting tired of the drawn out fight (Axl was done with his villain), Forte closed in, jutting his hand into Brannigan's metal skull. In the midst of the sparks and shredded metal, Bass pulled out a perfectly unbroken CPU.

"That's so cool!" Axl exclaimed. "How did you do that?"

"It's the Skull Man strike. Basically the one thing that idiot could do without sucking." Bass shrugged, tucking the CPU in his armor with the guess that X would want to look at it. Once the effect of the flattery wore off, Bass' glare returned, and he focused on the now nervous young reploid. "Alright, now you're going to tell me who you...aw crap..."

The dark robot stared at his arms and swore. He had forgotten that he was operating with the crystal energy in his busters, and they hadn't been at full capacity in the first place. Fighting with them had drained the rest of his power. The edges of Bass' vision started to go dark, and his internal mechanisms told him that he was falling. He smacked into the pavement, watching as his fading vision managed to see armored legs running towards him. Everything swirled about him until his vision settled on the worried face of the robot, who was apparently was trying to lift him up. Bass grimaced. He couldn't help but notice that the stranger's face looked familiar. Very familiar, in fact.

But there was no time to ask. Bass used what little power he had left to grab the stranger by the neck and gasp out one last message.

"D-don't put me back in that robot...museum..."

The light in Bass' red eyes went out, and he went limp in Axl's arms. The latter robot was jittery with excitement as he sent out a transmission.

_" - X, Zero! I found him! He's hurt or something but I think he'll be okay. I'm bringing him back to headquarters! See you there! - "_

\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Alright, y'all, I'm back from China and fun times were had by all. Now I'm gonna be back on this story, and I hope you're excited about it! Okay, normally I include a section where the new readers can learn about what they need to know to keep up with the story, but really in this one they can start off pretty fresh. There's really very little they need to know. Lemme get that over real quick.

Things new readers need to know:

- Bass, his life having been saved by Mega Man, has very reluctantly given up on trying to defeat him. His friendship with Dr. Light convinced him to become a good guy.

- Crystal Bot is the creation of Crystal Man, who was killed by Dr. Wily for it. Once Bass left Dr. Wily, he took Crystal Bot with him as his technician, and the MM5 robots left Wily as well. She remained Bass' technician until the robot apocalypse, including some time helping Bass look for a deactivated Zero in Russia.

- Bass believed that he had killed Zero for five years until the time of the robot apocalypse, when Wily confirmed that Bass had destroyed a fake.

- During the apocalypse, all sentient robots were destroyed, as well as the scientists capable of building them. Not until the discovery of X were sentient robots able to be built again.

- Bass has only slightly more respect for the Cossack-bots than he does the other robot masters. Emphasis on slight. He actually thinks Skull Man is half decent, mostly because Skull Man didn't talk much.

- Okay, so my gimmick for this story is making all my lovely reviewers into Mavericks. It's actually pretty easy and fun. All I have to do is take their names, go to thesarus .com, and look up words that sound cool. I did a whole bunch already. First up -

MungoJerry

=====Sycophant Porcellus

**"Squgga-squgga squeak!"**

Sycophant Porcellus is a giant guinea pig robot, with a robotic rider on her back. This robot, Rider Porcellus, is the real Maverick, however, as the guinea pig isn't really capable of getting the Maverick virus. She just serves her master without question, meekly bringing Rider from place to place. Rider has a spear he fights with, and Sycophant fights with her teeth. Unlike other Mavericks, when you fight Sycophant Porcellus, you don't win a weapon, but Sycophant herself. She becomes a handy mech for getting over spikes or through water, and can even climb walls and bite enemies with her teeth.

For some reason "MungoJerry" reminds me of a guinea pig. Sycophant refers to servants, and Porcellus come from the latin for guinea pig: Cavia Porcellus. And yes, those are approximations of what noises a guinea makes. They eat them in Peru. Yummy.

Lalalei

======Festooned Cockatiel

**"Oh **_**really**_**?"**

Festooned Cockatiel is a very sarcastic Maverick, and she is vain. She thinks she's the loveliest Maverick there is, and takes great pride in both her appearance and her service to Sigma. She can break tough armor with her beak, and she shoots EMP feathers. People who fight her have to be quick, because she causes massive damage in a very short time. Defeated, she gives you "glide feather", which enables you to float downwards from a jump, landing with great force and destroying nearby enemies as you land.

Since "Lalalei" isn't a word, I had to be creative making this name. "Lei" is one of those decorative wreaths, so I went with that and got festooned. Cockatiel just randomly popped up in my head when I was thinking of festooned, and I think it works.


	2. Exposition in Red and Black

Bass could hear voices. As his vision cleared and he began to see his surroundings, he guessed that he was in some sort of lab, lying on a repair table. At least he hoped it was a lab. Most of the machinery in it was beyond his knowledge, and unfamiliar things irritated him. Bass lay still, not wanting to be noticed so that he could get a good look around. He was on the leftmost of three repair tables, and these seemed to have their own computer stations on both sides. Ahead to the right was another set of three, on a wall that angled out at 130 degrees. Further along the far wall were schematics for robots the likes of which Bass had never seen. These were wild machines designed with a lot of stylistic daring - so in other words Bass hated them.

The schematics wall curved all the way to the left, and at the end was another set of three repair tables. These were spread more widely apart for larger machines, most likely. That completed the round, and the wall to the left had a door in the distance. Bass didn't notice it, as the two robots talking were more worthy of attention. One of them was the same one as before. The other was a blonde girl-bot with pink armor, and quite frankly it made Bass want to gag to think that anyone would design such a cutsie robot. But for the moment, neither of them were facing him so he decided to lay still and listen.

"Well no, he's not really like them, or at least I can't tell if he is." the girl-bot said. "The main reason his data can't be analyzed is his mind is protected against even the most light hacking. It's actually pretty scary how strong his firewall is. I don't know of any robot in the past who would actually need that kind of security."

"But he's definitely the real one?"

"X is convinced of it. Besides, he has the same design as in those pictures of yours. Unless he's a third generation taking on the form of Bass."

"Oh no, that's not possible. You can't copy the old robots because there's some data missing in them, and you'd definitely catch them if somebody tried. I can't wait to talk to him! He's going to make it, right?"

"Yes, I think so. There was a little trouble hooking up his power core, but since he's very similar to Zer-AAAUGH!"

The girl-bot almost jumped out of her skin when she saw that Bass was both awake and looking at her, and this cheered up the dark robot considerably. He grinned viciously, relishing the moment as much as he could.

"Ahahaahaa, that was great. I've still got it!" Bass sat up from the repair table and ran a check of his systems as he laughed.

"You just startled me, that's all." the girl-bot frowned. "How did you do that?"

"Eh, I'm programmed to automatically activate once I'm able to after an emergency shut down. Defensive measure."

Bass studied his inner diagnostic report carefully, noting that his power core was running satisfactorily, and even a bit better than normal. Whoever the technician was did an excellent job. How in the world did they know how to power him this much? His armor was still dented, but he didn't expect or want them to bother with it, not when they didn't know what they were doing. They hadn't done any extensive upgrading, and Bass figured that they must have been simply trying to get him to work. Content for the moment with his status, he turned to the semi-familiar robot who was smiling very awkwardly at him, as if he was expecting something.

"Signas, you'd better get over here. He's awake." The other spoke into the lab's comm console. Pushing a button, she shut down the comm and went over towards their guest. "Good morning, Bass. You're in the Maverick Hunter headquarters now. I'm Alia, lead scientist and navigator. And this is Axl."

It looked like Axl was going to burst if he didn't say something. He was nervous, and considering his earlier faux pas, he had extra reason to be so. "I'm really excited to meet a legendary hero like yourself!"

Bass wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention to what the nervous Axl was saying despite his love for flattery, and it showed on his face. He was staring a bit intensely at Axl's features, and once it occurred to him where he had seen them before, his own face soured, and he cursed under his breath. It was more or less Crystal Bot's face he was looking at. Sure, there were a few differences, but the wide, innocent eyes and bright features could only be hers. The armor's appearance was creepily similar to his own, and this Axl had called him "Dad"...Bass started to wish that robots could throw up. He groaned and buried his face in his hands.

Axl started to squirm. "Uh...is something wrong?"

Bass did not want to talk about it. He just dropped his hands and muttered, eyeing the young Hunter with obvious disdain. "...Nothing."

This only confused Axl, but Alia put a hand on his shoulder to reassure him. "Give Bass some time to get used to everything. Things are a lot different than they used to be, and he doesn't know us." Alia smiled her most welcoming smile as she approached the newcomer. "Bass, we'll try to make this transition as easy as possible for you. Modern robotics is nothing like it was originally, and a lot has happened since your day. What question can I answer for you first?"

"Okay, first of all," Bass got down off the table and promptly pointed at her chest. "What the crap are _those_? I mean, I can understand looking like a human, but that's just ridiculous! They're so big! They don't actually serve any function in robots, not unless you were created by a pervert."

Alia gasped. "My creator designed me after his own daughter!"

"Ugh, so he _was _a pervert!" Bass gagged. "Sick!"

Axl snorted as he laughed uncontrollably. "He's right! Ha, I never thought about it before."

"My creator was not a pervert!" Alia, blushing, awkwardly crossed her arms across her chest and glared at Axl as she addressed the both of them. "Can we please stop talking about my...design?"

"That must be the real Bass, alright." a new robot, tall and stately, approached. His armor was black, and resembled a military coat and hap arnold. Everything about him was full of dignity, and his posture was remarkably overdone. "According to X, he always was somewhat tactless."

"I'm not tactless, I'm honest." Bass narrowed his eyes somewhat. "And who are you?"

"I am Signas, leader of the Maverick hunters."

"Why isn't X the leader?"

Signas shrugged. "Fighting abilities don't necessarily equate to leadership skills. Now if you have any serious questions, we would happily answer them. Alia is preparing a disc of our more detailed history for you, but for now we will answer what we can."

"Start at the beginning." Bass folded his arms and leaned back against the nearby wall, readying himself for a full explanation. "Starting with that robot apocalypse crap. Did anyone named Roll or Auto survive?"

Axl winced, and a growing pity filled Alia's gentle eyes. Signas, however, was unmoved, and his answer was solemn. "No. You and X are the only known robots to survive it. Sentient ones, in any case. A few mechaniloids managed to survive, but for many years modern civilization was nonexistant. The world began to make a serious recovery only about twenty years before X was discovered."

"Twenty years?" Bass questioned. "How long was that guy in stasis?"

"About a century."

"A century? He wasn't supposed to...wait, what year is it now, exactly?"

"21XX."

Bass' jaw dropped. "I've been out of it that long? That means I'm..."

He didn't say it. He almost did, but the thought itself was his worst nightmare. In the past he had done everything in his power to prevent this, but here it was upon him nonetheless: he was obsolete. Old. Archaic. Bass forced himself to think otherwise. After all, weren't those three "Mavericks" he fought modern robots? He done fairly well, so he couldn't be that behind in the times...he hoped. He comforted himself with the thought that there would be all manner of technological advance he could use to upgrade, though he had to wonder how he would pay for it.

Bass rubbed his forehead as if it would do some good. "Ugh...so what exactly happened to me? Where was I found?"

Signas turned to Axl, smiling a bit in approval of the younger Hunter. "Why don't you answer this?"

"Okay!" Axl exclaimed, seemingly unable to simply say anything calmly. "I just recently found out myself! So what happened was, you were found by my creator, Reiko Inafune, when she was building her lab on the outskirts of Giga City. You and CMN-040, together-"

"Crystal Bot."

"What?"

"Her name was Crystal Bot." Bass muttered. "Don't call her by her stupid number."

"Oh, okay, Crystal Bot!" Axl smiled. "Well, anyway, when Dr. Inafune found you, she tried to keep you a secret because of some trouble going on with the people she bought the land for her new laboratory from. But they found out somehow that she had made a discovery, and sued to make sure that they would get it. They won, and Dr. Inafune pretended that you were the only one she found so that she could keep Crystal Bot. You ended up being sold to the museum."

"How much did I go for?"

"I think it was a million zenny."

"Heh, not bad." Bass managed a slight grin for that, even though he wasn't quite sure what a zenny was. "Acceptable."

"Are you kidding?" Alia folded her arms. "In this economy that's a monstrous fortune."

And of course Bass liked that even better. "Heh. Why didn't they just fix me? I work fine now."

"They thought you were completely dead." The girl tech-bot explained. "I removed your primary CPU, and from what I can tell you were hit by a massive EMP. There's nothing any robot could have done to survive it. You _were _dead. If it weren't for a secondary CPU with complete EMP shielding, you wouldn't have survived at all. The EMP shielding was designed extremely well, and it managed to reflect the EMP waves you encountered. It also served to encase your second CPU. From what I could tell, that CPU was supposed to activate once your first CPU was destroyed, but there was some kind of power error because it wasn't installed properly. Only when there was the power surge at the robot museum could you wake up."

Bass wasn't sure he liked this stranger scanning his mind, but for the moment he let it pass. Maybe she would turn out to be a better technician than Crystal. She had done a good job on his power core, and she would certainly have more advanced technology. All the same, he felt marginally sorry for Sonata. Thinking back on his short conversation with Recluse Stradivarius, he knew he needed more information to understand what had gone on.

"So what's the deal with Dr. Inafune? Who killed her? And what's Red Alert? One of those idiots I was talking to said you guys killed them all."

"It wasn't like that!" Axl protested, startling Bass a little with his defensiveness. "They fought Mavericks too! And Red was a great leader! It's just that...well, they never were really that concerned with the law...and at the end they were being manipulated by the evil Sigma...they had to be dealt with..."

"Back up, Axl." Alia said before addressing Bass. "He used to be a part of their team. When Dr. Inafune's lab was destroyed, Red found him and protected him. Axl's still very grateful to Red Alert."

"They were wonderful!" Axl insisted, desperately hoping that Bass would understand. "I just wish they hadn't gone Maverick!"

Bass rolled his eyes. He didn't care about any of that. "Tell me more about Inafune."

"There's not that much to tell." Axl went on. "She was a really great scientist, and for a few years she invented a lot of things, including my Copy Shot! I can change into any reploid my size that I defeat! Cool, huh?"

That was weird to Bass. He wasn't sure what to make of it. So he ignored it. "What happened to her? Did those Mavericks get her?"

"Yeah," Axl answered in a somber tone. "Most of her work was destroyed along with her lab, and if Crystal Bot had lived then I'm sure Red would have let her join Red Alert too. But...I guess she didn't..." The young reploid paused, changing the subject so that he could explain without glitching. "Just yesterday I found one of Dr. Inafune's old friends, a human in Giga City. From what I learned, whatever got you with that big EMP was the same thing that got Crystal, but Dr. Inafune found her second CPU. And before she handed you over, she built me based on the both of you! I got mostly Crystal Bot's personality and your looks - in the armor anyway - and fighting style." Axl grinned sheepishly as he went on. "I guess that makes you my fath-"

"BASS." the dark robot growled, refusing to let Axl go any further on that train of thought. "My name is Bass. Or Forte, whichever you prefer. Don't say stupid crap, and if you call me...guh..." Bass interrupted himself to wince. "'Dad' ever again, you'll regret it. And don't you dare tell anyone _you're _based on me." Bass inspected Axl with no small amount of disgust before he decided to ignore him. He grumpily turned to Signas.

"So where's X now?"

"He's out investigating what those Mavericks you found were doing." Signas gave a momentary glance to Axl, who was now staring listlessly at the floor, wishing he hadn't said anything. But Signas inwardly told himself he would speak to Axl alone later and explain that some things were best not said to someone trying to get accustomed to an entirely new world. He went on. "Those were some primary suspects for a crime ring that X was investigating. I'm sure he'll be here shortly."

Bass wasn't that interested. He had a lot of history to keep up with. But as he hadn't properly scared off Axl yet (and wished that he had), Bass pulled a spare chip from a nearby workstation and stuck it in his neck before addressing the young hunter.

"Hey kid, if I give you some memories of Crystal Bot, will you stop moping around?"

The dark robot's face was by no means kind, but this wasn't something that Axl was going to pass up. He immediately brightened. "Oh yes, please!"

The memories were loaded, so Bass removed the chip and shoved it in Axl's direction. He had more questions for the mature robots before him, so hopefully Axl would at least be distracted for a while. Axl happily took the chip and uploaded everything, his face brightening even more when he started to look at the files. Bass cringed, clicking his teeth. When the young reploid was that happy, he looked almost exactly like Bass' technician. It was disturbing.

"Ah! I know this memory! Hey, Alia, I left them in here this morning, right?"

"The pictures? Yes." the lab-bot said, wondering how someone so excited about them could have forgotten about them. "I think you left them on my desk."

Axl returned with a plain white envelope in his hands, and he gingerly opened it, delicately pulling out its laminated contents for their guest to see. Bass took the pictures from Axl, turning them so that they were upside right to his vision. What he saw surprised him a little, and dispirited him a lot.

"This is from the last Christmas that Dr. Light was alive." Bass said slowly, looking at the picture of him, Crystal Bot with her elf ears, Roll in her Santa outfit, and Rock. Even he was smiling (slightly) in it. "Five years before the apocalypse. Light was dead a month later."

Bass abruptly handed the pictures back, not wanting to look at them any longer. He couldn't even look at Axl as he asked, splenetically, "Where'd you get those?"

The young reploid looked up at his colleages with wonder. Why wasn't any of this cheering Bass up? "Uh, well my creator was afraid that someone would find out she didn't hand over Crystal Bot, so she handed some extra items to her friend I talked to for safekeeping. These were in Crystal Bot's bag. But if these are of that Christmas, then why isn't Dr. Light in any of them?"

Bass sighed. "He didn't look good. At all. And he was the one that took those anyway." Realizing he had forgotten something, Bass suddenly brightened to a cheer that broke through his gloom and just plain shocked the others. "Wait, he stored his mind in a computer...thing. He's alive, right?"

Alia frowned settling over in a nearby chair with a sigh. "Well, for years his mind operated in these capsules X would find scattered around various place in the world, and just last month the capsules stopped activating. We found his primary mind capsule, and from what we could tell his consciousness operated from this capsule to activate the others whenever X was around, and he would then give X an armor. However, despite our best efforts the error in the primary console - which we guess was just the result of time on the old capsule parts - somehow stopped Dr. Light from...operating, I suppose would be the best word. He's still alive in there, technically...we think. But no one knows how to get the capsule to work again."

Bass processed all these things in his head, wondering when in the world Dr. Light had the time to build capsules and armor for X before he died. But that didn't matter to him, and his head sank lower as he bitterly glared downwards.

"So the hologram did work for a while?"

"Yes, several years."

"And it stopped just last month?"

"Yes..."

Bass almost growled as he turned away from Alia. He didn't want her pitying him. It was hard for her not to, though. Bass looked as though someone had punched him in the gut, and he wanted nothing more at that moment than to be left alone. It showed. Noticing that the disc of historical information was done loading, Alia pulled it out from the computer and handed it to Bass, who glanced at it momentarily before uncertainly stashing it in his armor. Alia was beginning to annoy him. Her sorrowful glance made Bass scowl.

"Alright, now what's a reploid?" he asked Signas, trying to change the subject, if only to get people to stop giving him those sickening, sympathetic stares.

"Everyone is, other than yourself." the leader explained. "Before X was discovered, there were only mechaniloids because no one could figure out how to build the higher level robots. Once X was found, a new generation of robots was able to be made from his model. We're replicated androids - reploids."

"Okay. So what exactly are Mavericks and where did they come from?"

"A Maverick is any Reploid that has a virus or other programming error that makes them exhibit criminal behavior. Most of the viruses can be handled simply, but these Mavericks can cause any amount of damage before they come under control." Here Signas exhaled a bit, coming onto a topic that disturbed him the most. "The most prevalent of these we simply call the Maverick Virus. There is no known cure. The reploids with this virus are not only destructive, but organized, following the orders of one specific reploid-"

Bass nodded a bit impatiently. "Yeah, yeah, I think I know that virus. It's the one that rewrites personality AI and turns them crazy and violent, right?"

Alia started. "Why yes, that's it! You know about it?"

"Of course I do. Proto Man stole some discs from Wily's goons that had some data on it. I guess affects any robot based on X's technology." Since Crystal Bot was based to an extent on X's design and was the only robot in the old days that could get the virus, it made sense to Bass that reploids would be vulnerable to it. Wily had been smart enough to plan it that way. It was just like him too. "So they didn't kill Zero before he started spreading it? Dang...I was hoping someone found him before he was activated."

"Kill Zero?" Axl innocently asked. "Why would -"

"That's enough!" Signas suddenly snapped cutting Axl off.

Axl silenced in wonder, his mouth awkwardly hanging out. The dark robot had been staring contemplatively at the floor, but when Axl spoke up he looked suspiciously at the others. They in turn were looking at Signas, whose face had gotten deathly serious in the past ten seconds. But he was always well in control of himself.

"We should speak of this matter later, not now." His words caused confusion in the others, and the two hunters were only more disturbed.

"But he just said that Zero was - " Axl protested.

"Quiet!" Signas put a hand to the side of his head as he sent out a comm. _" - X, come in. What is your current location? - "_

None of this made any sense to Bass. He looked from one reploid to another trying to discern what was happening, but he could learn nothing. Alia was glancing at Signas uncertainly, trying to figure things out for herself. She obviously wanted to ask more, but she just bit her lip. Axl was on the verge of questioning Bass, but a glare or two from his boss kept him quiet. Forte, however, was going to make sure to ask.

He growled, eyeing the others with a sinister glint as a new and infinitely more hateful revelation struck. "Someone did destroy Zero, _right_?"

"What? No! Who's trying to kill him?" All three reploids were horrified to see X coming through the doorway. "He's right here."

X stepped into the room, allowing a now somewhat reluctant Zero to enter the room. His questioning eyes wandered about, and he somewhat calmly stepped into the lab, his long hair trailing behind him tranquilly. Everyone other than X froze to see him enter.

"What's wrong with them?" Zero asked.

"I don't know..."

Zero looked from one confused face to the next, finally landing on Bass'. A weaker robot might have seen the warped and twisted hatred on the dark robot's face and started glitching in fear. Bass stood there, numbly and loathingly amazed as he gazed evilly at the one robot he hated most in the world.

"You..." Bass could barely hiss. "YOU!"

Bass dashed across the room, shoving aside Alia and Axl and jumping clean over a table to reach Zero. The red hunter was no fool. In a moment his saber was out, ready to disable his attacker in one strike. But he underestimated his adversary. Ducking clear under his parry, Bass rolled in and knocked Zero to the floor. Grabbing an arm, Bass teleported them both out of the lab.

"Quick!" X exclaimed. "Trace that teleport!"

\\\

There was really no need. Bass had only teleported him out on the grounds of Maverick Hunter Headquarters. He had at least learned some manners about not fighting in a lab. But he wasn't quick enough to dodge the kick to the chest. He was up only a moment later, busters ready. Zero had his own blaster aimed at his opponent, and Bass had to give him credit for switching weapons so fast.

"Why are we fighting?" Zero asked, trying to keep control of himself, and hoping he wouldn't have to damage Bass much, if only for the sake of Axl and X. "What have I done to you?"

"You have the GALL to ask? You _killed Rock!_"

This took Zero completely by surprise. "No! I wouldn't do that...I mean..."

Zero knew who Rock was, of course, from what X had told him. The red hunter tried his hardest to recall his earliest memories. Unfortunately, all he could dig up were the ones he had of waking up in Maverick Hunter HQ. There were records in Maverick Hunter files of the days when he himself had been a Maverick, but Zero simply couldn't remember being a bad guy. He didn't know when he had first been activated. For all he knew, Bass was right.

"I...I don't remember anything..." Zero said aloud, fearing that what the dark robot had said was true.

Bass snarled, keeping his buster perfectly trained on Zero. "And don't you know you're responsible for everything else that's happened?"

Zero's eyes widened. He knew exactly what Bass was talking about, and he silently begged Bass to not say it. If anyone heard...

"That's right." the older robot's foul smirk tainted his face. "I know all about that _virus_ of yours, you sick bastard. You deserve to die, and I'm going to make sure it happens!"

This knowledge hit him like one of the purple plasma blasts that the dark robot fired off at him. Bass had known about his virus? How many of the older robots had? But Zero had to focus. The shots were notoriously difficult to dodge. Pulling out his saber, he swung them back at Bass. Strangely enough, this only pleased the dark robot. He equipped his other blaster, and now not only did Zero have double the shots to dodge, but they were now stronger. He didn't know about the energy crystals in them.

A flood of buster shots flooded Zero's vision, and Bass dashed in once he had the opportunity. But Zero knew what he was doing. Before Bass knew it, he had been punched in the chest, and he fell back. Much to the younger robot's surprise, this only seemed to amuse Bass even more. Shaking his head, Zero pulled out his blaster, about guessing which spots would be best to hit Forte so that he could incapacitate him in as few shots as possible. The trouble was, Forte took advantage of this. He knew that Zero was holding back, and as long as he did, Bass was going to try to kill him.

Bass promptly dashed forward and kicked Zero's blaster with precision aim, damaging the right part to keep him from being able to fire. Forced into hand to hand combat, Zero was surprised to see how skilled Bass was at it. While Zero was more a student of karate and kung-fu, he could clearly recognise the Korean martial arts, tang su do, that Bass used. He had to admit that he was a little impressed by the dark one's skill, but he wished that this was nothing more than a sparring match. Curious reploids were beginning to gather, wondering why Zero and the ancient machine were fighting each other. X, Axl, Alia, and Signas were of course there, but their dark attitudes only spurred on the crowd to whisper amongst themselves. Zero's heart sank as he realized that they were going to learn more about him than he wanted them to know.

Bass himself was getting frustrated with Zero. He knew that Zero was just trying to get him to stop, and that mercy was allowing Bass a lot more liberty than Zero normally showed his opponents. Bass couldn't stand it.

"Come on! Stop holding back! Fight me with all you've got!"

The dark robot kicked Zero across the face, and a new anger rose up in Zero. As he fell to one knee, he knew he was all too willing to comply. He forgot about Axl, and he forgot that Bass was one last connection to a past that was all but lost. He hated Bass, and his rage made him stop caring if the obsolete thing lived or died.

"_Fine_, but remember that _you asked for it_!"

Zero saw Bass' attempt at reaching his beam saber, and with a lightning speed that Bass could only dream about, he flicked the sword upwards and straight through the metal of his opponent. Stunned by this attack, Bass was unable to dodge properly when Zero next kicked him away several yards, sending him sprawling. Zero certainly had stopped holding back, and if it weren't for Bass' agility, he would be missing more than the lower half of his left arm. His left buster was cut completely off, and all that remained was a grey stump. Furious, the dark robot dashed at the ponytailed hunter. He was focused solely on his opponent, so much so that he didn't notice what was going on where the others were gathered until the large blast was already hurtling towards him.

And everything went white.

A surge of energy ripped into his systems, and his vision and thoughts disappeared all but completely from the shock. For a moment, Bass wondered if he was dead. He immediately scolded himself for thinking such a thing; if he could think then it meant he was still alive. Blinking as his vision began to return, he snarled and started to lift himself back up. He was going to kill Zero, and he didn't care what was in his way.

"No, you stay down!"

Along with the noble voice, a heavy foot stomped down on his chest, and it pinned him down. He couldn't get out from under it, and each new struggle only made it worse. As his vision cleared, Bass saw that a very angry X was staring down at him with a buster at the ready. Bass groaned. Of course X would have a charged shot. X's eyes narrowed as he coldly stared down the black and gold robot with a hate reserved only for Mavericks.

"What's wrong with you?" The new bomber gave as much emphasis as he could while still trying to make sure the crowd didn't hear him clearly, and Signas was thankfully holding them back. "Do you think you're the only robot that can overcome a past of evil to become something better? Are you so arrogant that you're going to refuse to even give Zero a chance? I don't know what he was in your day, but I know that now he is a hero and a friend! You're just going to have to accept that! I'll destroy you if I have to, but you're going to leave Zero alone! Do you understand?"

"Screw you!" Bass spat, reaching with his right arm to try and shove X's leg away.

X kicked away his hand and stomped down harder, denting Bass' armor. "I said, do you understand?"

There was no way out of it, so as much as he hated to, Bass gritted his fangs and gave in. "Fine, fine! Alright! Now let me up!"

X hesitated a moment, not convinced that he had made his point. But he removed his foot regardless. Bass got up shakily, trying to scorn X's help as the latter pulled him to his feet. But X wasn't helping him, and his grim visage communicated this clearly. Bass tried to pull his arm away, but X's grip was too strong. With a buster trained at Bass' head, X began to haul the dark robot back inside Maverick Hunter HQ with clear, firm anger.

Zero, despite trying to calm down, glared insolently at Bass. He seethed, hoping Bass realized that X had saved his life; the rage in Zero was having trouble dissipating. That was until he looked at the others, when his rage froze into horror.

The crowd of curious Hunters had gotten larger since Zero had last looked, and they were growing increasingly confused. Some of them knew who Bass was, but most of them were staring at Zero. Zero could almost feel the eyes of everyone on him, and it began to sink in what all of this meant. Word had gotten around about Bass being an older robot, and that he had come to the headquarters only just that day and attacked Zero without any provocation. They were already guessing and making up their own stories as to why this was, and only when Zero's eyes passed over them did they silence, staring in wonder.

He looked at Alia, hoping...well, he didn't know what he was hoping for. Support, perhaps. But her deadened stare silenced all hope. Alia knew the truth now about the Maverick Virus: it's real name was the Zero Virus. Other hunters noticed Alia's stone face and tried to ask her what happened, but she wouldn't answer. Signas appeared from somewhere in the crowd, telling everyone to disperse. He glanced over at Zero, and surprisingly didn't seem upset or even too curious. He was always professional.

"Zero," X called out for him, and some worry showed in his voice. "Come to the briefing room."

The ponytailed robot looked over at his friend, who was still hauling a barely cooperative Bass by the stump of his arm. In fact, as X spoke to Zero, Bass saw his chance. Without his arm it was a lot easier to pull himself out of X's grip, and he teleported out before anyone could react.

"Teleportation scrambler...I don't think we can trace him immediately." Signas noticed as he scanned.

"Just great!" X spat, clenching a fist. "The only link we have to the past and it's the completely unpredictable Bass. There's no telling what trouble he could cause!"

"X, calm down." Signas insisted firmly, walking closer to X so that he could be as quiet as possible when he spoke. "We can still track him. Now get to the briefing room calmly. We still have to figure out how to explain this to the Hunters without saying too much..."

He glanced over at Zero as he said this, and Zero began to realize the effect his silence was having on everyone. Everyone seemed to be on edge, especially Axl, who looked like he wanted to say something comforting, and yet could think of nothing. He had always admired Zero, and now there were so many new ideas running around in his head, put there by a robot Axl cared about. Zero did feel sorry for the young Hunter; it distracted him from feeling sorry for himself. Axl seemed more depressed than ever, and he kicked at the dirt in disgust. Alia was acting strangely. Every time Zero happened to look in her direction, she turned away. But even then he could see the hurt.

They entered the building without a word.

\\\\\

Author's notes:

- I was actually gonna wait until Wednesday to post this, but y'all with your reviews convinced me to put it up tonight. Yeah, I actually made a buffer during WGT for this story. 11 reviews for one chapter? Holy crap I feel loved. :D

- A hap arnold is what you call the style of hat that Signas wears.

- Since the robot apocalypse, the world's economy has worked a lot differently. Most countries use zenny as their currency in the X series. Or so I'm going to say.

- One of the things that bothers me with certain stories on ff. net is that they make Zero too nice. Zero's slightly a jerk. Not especially so, but his nature is tainted a bit by it.

Queen Sunstar

======Sultana Aubade

**"You're cute. I bet I can sweep you off your feet!"**

Sultana Aubade loves being a Maverick, and she especially loves make up and jewelry. She is an excellent singer. She wears an armor dress and hides most of her face behind her large fan. Sultana is an air Maverick: her wind powers include using her fan to blow away opponents, and using her make up powder to slow the player down and steal their weapon energy. She can also throw the fan like a boomerang, and it can charge from solar power. She's very good at dodging, and can fly. Beating her earns the player "Sultana's fan", a short range weapon that can be used as a blunt weapon and to send gusts of wind at enemies.

"Sultana" is another word for queen, and an aubade is a song sang specifically for the sunrise.

Anmynous

======Masquerade Virtuoso

**"I can see you. Can you see me?"**

This Maverick is a digital robot, and he hides his face behind a large mask. He wears a large cape, and is capable of disappearing and reappearing at will. He enjoys collecting information about anything he can, especially X and Zero. He shoots out electrical pulses, and also can trap the player in them. Whoever defeats him gets the Masquerade Cape, which enables the player to be temporarily invisible.

This one's easy. Masquerade indicates Anmynous' anonmity, and Virtuoso just sounds cool.

Josunurashima

=======Onagadori Vex

**"You're finished once I get my claws on you!"**

Onagadori is a giant chicken-bot Maverick who is very old, but very bad tempered. He knows a lot of military strategies, and when he attacks he sends out little robot hens in formation. He has a giant tailfeather that also serves as troublesome to get around. He's tough, but doesn't himself move too much. And watch out for those claws. The player gets "Vexacious Spawn" when they win, and this sends out a hen forward through the path of a level, damaging all ground enemies and clearing the way for you.

This one was so hard. I couldn't use the name on thesaurus .com, and since googling only brought up deviantart accounts and such, I guessed it was Japanese. One of the very few Japanese words I know is "Onagadori", which means "noble foul". Vex means to annoy or aggravate. Lol, not that you aggravate me, Josun, it just seemed to fit with Onagadori.


	3. If This is the End

All robots were programmed to protect themselves, and suicide was supposed to be impossible. All robots were programmed to preserve their lives. But it was actually very simple to get by these failsafes, if one was a little creative. Bass managed creativity at times. That's why he found himself a junkyard, on the edge of some city. He hadn't been tracking where he was going, and he still wasn't sure where he was, but he didn't care. He could heard the noise of the machinery from far off, but he didn't flinch. He just started walking over the grassy hill before him.

Junkyards were good places for evading the failsafes. All a robot had to do was stand on the edge of the trash compactor and lean in such a way that if they deactivated, they would fall in. It helped to do this right as the compactor was starting to go, so that any noise made by falling would be covered up by the loudness of the machine. With a little effort, no one would notice until it was too late.

Bass felt a little foolish as he went up the hill, but he indulged anyway, closing his eyes. The noise of the junkyard was very familiar, and he was suprised that the technology sounded so similar to what had been a century ago. Was technology really that unadvanced, or did all metal scrunching together sound alike? He didn't care enough to think it over. He liked even this slight familiarity.

As he went up, Bass imagined that the hill was covered not in grass, but snow, and that when he came to the top and opened his eyes, he would see Dust Man below, working his job not far from Cossack's lab. Crystal Bot would be waiting there, keeping the junk-bot company like she did a lot of the time, and as soon as she saw her "Forte-kun" she would smile like a little kid (it was the most annoying thing ever, but how Bass longed to see it again...) and announce that she had built him a brand new upgrade so he should come back to Cossack's lab and see it. Bass hadn't known the Russian doctor very well, so it surprised him how much he missed Dr. Cossack.

And as long as he was indulging, Dr. Light would be alive, not in a stupid hologram box. Bass would be due to call him and see how he was doing. Treble would be there, barking at the telescreen and wagging his giant tail - sometimes Bass thought Treble liked Dr. Light even better than he did. And, for the heck of it, Rock would be alive. No sense in letting Dr. Light be unprotected. If he got annoyed with Rock he could kill him later. And Roll, she could be there. Bass didn't mind her too much. He didn't spare more than a "meh" for Proto Man.

Until the moment he opened his eyes, he had himself almost fooled. But it wasn't Dust Man's junkyard, and he could pretend no longer. There were several robots in the valley down the hill, and a few human supervisors, and a completely unfamilar mess of metals and machinery. No sign of "Daniel Dunn". There was no need to rush things, and the large compactor was still being loaded at the moment. In any case, Bass wasn't in the mood for the sneaking around that his plan would require right yet. He sat down on the hill almost lazily, just watching through dull eyes.

_Is there something on my helmet?_ Bass wondered, only half caring as he reached up to check. He sighed.

Bass had never been one much for self-pity since he had left Wily, not since the days when he had been focused on nothing more than fighting Mega Man. He had always failed at defeating his rival, and there were several times when he and Treble had sat together in a place like this, just reflecting on how close they had come to beating Rock in the latest battle. Now he was sitting, this time alone, reflecting on the lost battle with Zero. There was no pride left to fuel the rage Bass wanted to feel at the thought of Zero. All he could muster was a dusty hate, one with no strength to it.

Here he was too forlorn to wince or try to say it was luck. Zero was more powerful than him, plain and simple. He couldn't deny it, and every new excuse brought to his head had to be immediately dismissed as worthless. Of course Zero would be built to outdo him. He was supposed to kill Bass, after all. And Forte knew that every moment he spent alive was another moment he had simply because Zero let him have it. The very thought sickened him.

But Zero's mercy (gag) wasn't the only mercy involved. Here Bass' pride reared back and filled him with rage. Mega Man X, of all people, had nearly killed him. He didn't doubt for a second that X would have killed him if he had actually defeated Zero. Now, Bass knew that X was going to be more powerful than him, and the thought he was going to be okay with it - because Crystal Bot was supposed to upgrade him and even out the odds. Also, his defense of Zero was a very Light-bot thing to do. Rock would have done the same for any of his friends, even for Bass himself.

_Ugh, I should have known that X would be an idiot just like Rock...Why does he have to be friends with that stupid, worthless, evil...?_

His thoughts wandered on with more expletives than I care to repeat. Waves of self-pity came over him as he recalled all that he had wanted to do. He had plans of exploring the world, being upgraded by Sonata, writing more books, and most of all finding some way to outdo Mega Man. He would have become the strongest of the robots with Crystal's work, he had no doubt. She was the one who had invented the CPU shielding that had kept him alive. And yet he had failed to save her from the Mavericks.

That was a terrible way to reward her for her dedicated service. The vague thought that this was not his fault crossed his mind, but he knew that if he had killed Zero when he had the chance then there would be no Mavericks, and Crystal Bot would have lived. But it was too late. She had trusted him and believed in him, and he hadn't helped her. She was dead, just like everyone else he had failed to save.

_And now all I have is that stupid kid to remember her by..._

Bass contorted in disgust at the very thought of Axl. How dare that Dr. Inafune make such a girly, cutesy, feminine-voiced robot from his sleek, intimidating design? He was almost as girly as Zero. He didn't even look like he could fight, the miserable, poofy-haired thing. While he was at it, Bass tried to think of something horrible about Alia or Signas, but he found he didn't care enough.

His thoughts turned to the disc of the history of the past century Alia had given him. It was still on him and was surprisingly undamaged. He loaded the disc and studied it carefully. Their history was bleak. Strike after strike against the Mavericks, the fall of their space station onto the ground (did any of them know about self destructs?), and the ensuing "Zero Nightmare" all filled his head. It depressed him; he didn't know how much he cared about the welfare of humans. The whole earth had suffered, and Bass hadn't been there to stop it. He had just let it all happen.

_What good would it have done if I were there? _Bass thought bitterly. _Every single time I tried to do something, I failed..._

It was true, he told himself. When Wily had first built him, the world seemed at least a fun place. The evil doctor had actually been proud of his creation, saying that he was built to be the best. That changed fast when Bass lost his first battle to Mega Man, in the scheme where he had pretended to be an ally and stole the upgrades. Bass had dragged himself back to Wily's lab, both he and Treble in a terrible state.

**"What's wrong with you?" Wily screamed at him as he put his robot back in order. "You couldn't beat him with his own upgrades? Pathetic! I'll just have to fight him myself! It's a good thing I built my new fighting machine! I can't depend on you for anything!"**

That was only the first argument they'd had. Bass had watched as his master had also failed to bring down Mega Man, and at the very last moment, when even the kind Mega Man seemed like he was getting impatient with Wily, Bass jumped in and saved his master from harm. Not that Wily bothered to be grateful. He only snapped at his robot for "forcing him to fight" Mega Man and "being worthless".

**"Well, you're the one that built me!" Bass yelled right back. "And if it weren't for me, you'd be in jail or shot or something!"**

**"Oh, right, thank you SO much for dropping an iron beam on my head!" Wily snapped. "You're almost as bad at rescue as you are with fighting!"**

The argument went on longer, but Bass didn't bother with it. He tried to go on to the next memory, which was of his failure when Duo came down and there was all that nonsense about the "evil energy". It was no good.

_Stupid Crystal Man, deleting my data..._

But he did remember when he had destroyed King. This would have warmed his metaphorical heart some, except that Rock had been there; he didn't do that on his own. Worse yet, he had discovered that his own master had contrived the scheme and built King in the first place, one of the reasons for which being that he wanted to kill his rebellious creation. Bass could recall when Proto Man had destroyed the plans for King II, and what happened after Proto Man left.

**It was a small, bitter look, but Bass had seen it nonetheless. Wily, as he crawled away from the angry Bass, muttered. "Ungrateful wretch..."**

**"What was that, old man?" Bass arrogantly snapped.**

**"Nothing!"**

**Robots had better hearing than that, and Bass rolled his eyes. "Just get up and fix my buster, moron. I think there's a glitch in it from fighting your stupid minions. You're going to have to build something better than King to off me."**

Bass didn't see the full consequences of his actions for some time. He should have known that Wily would bear a deep grudge against him, and that in the end he wouldn't get away with being disrespectful. He had known that Wily was starting up on some new scheme where he was going to steal more Light-bots and reprogram them to frame Dr. Light, so Bass had decided to prepare himself to fight Mega Man once again. Wily had promised him some special upgrades, and like a fool Bass had just taken his word for it.

**When Bass emerged from the automated machine, he didn't feel any different at first. That was mainly due to the fact he was buried under rubble, not only the remains of the the automated machine, but also chunks of plaster, metal beams, and other assorted whatnot that was too damaged to identify. He was too busy digging himself out. Throwing off the rubble was hard work for someone half-smothered by it, but there seemed to be someone above.**

**"Arr, lad, where are ye?"**

**Pirate Man. Bass rolled his eyes, but help was help, wherever it came from. "I'm over here! Get this crap off me!"**

**"Where?"**

**Barking sounded, and with relief Bass knew it was Treble's. It was coming nearer, and he could start to hear digging. Through some I beams he could see Pirate Man's metal claw going to work pulling off all the rubble. In only moments, Bass was free. The day was very bright and sunny, and it was easy to tell since there was nothing left of Skull Castle.**

**"What happened here?" Bass asked as soon as he finished petting Treble. "Did one of Wily's stupid experiments go wrong or something?"**

**"Nay, lad." the pirate said. "T'was Mega Man. The master's plan was a failure again."**

**"Wait, what? You're saying I was left in the stupid automated machine for the entire thing? And he left me here when the castle self-destructed?"**

**Pirate Man scratched his head. "I don't think he meant it to go that way. Mega Man came quickly this time, and 'e made right short work o' things."**

**"Ugh." Bass made sure his teleporter was working, and it was. "Just tell me what miserable rock Wily dragged his sorry carcass to. I'll give him a piece of my mind! And why are you looking at me like that?"**

**The expression was rather strange. Pirate Man was wincing, his pity for Bass very evident. If it had just been the abandonment, Pirate Man wouldn't have cared. All the robots knew Wily cared about himself more than he cared about any of them. The thief-bot sighed.**

**"Ah, Bass, ye never were one much to look at yer upgrades 'afore the master installs 'em, were ye?"**

**Bass was taken aback. This must be serious - usually Pirate Man chose to pronounce his name as the fish rather than the music symbol (why did Pirate Man feel the need to annoy everyone?), but not so just then. Doing a quick check of his systems, Bass noticed with horror that Wily had installed new failsafes and programs on him. Then suddenly Pirate Man's appearance made perfect sense. Pirate Man had been one of the robots that had rebelled along with King, and all but he and Burner Man had been left dead for it. The only way Wily would allow the two to live was with several brand new, programmed in failsafes. They were dummies, Bass had told himself; their free will was cut down and chained to Wily's words.**

**And now Bass was one of them. **

Forte couldn't even muster a sigh. He would have killed Pirate Man out of sheer rage that day, but one of his new failsafes was that he couldn't attack a Wily-bot unless it attacked him first. Bass had then gone to the new Skull Castle, but he found he couldn't so much as lay a finger on his creator.

**"What did you do to me, old man?" Bass screamed once he had reached the newly constructed Skull Castle. "You better fix it now if you know what's good for you!"**

**He should have known immediately that something was very wrong. Instead of cowering in fear like he usually did, Wily just smiled, sneering over his ugly nose. **

**"Kneel."**

**"What the hell - "**

**"Kneel, **_**now**_**."**

**With a thunk, Bass abruptly landed on one knee in front of his creator. He gasped in horror, wanting with his whole being to throttle the old, wrinkled beast. It didn't help that Quick Man and most of Team 1 were watching. They all laughed at him, but there was nothing he could do. He couldn't attack them, and he couldn't attack the grinning evil scientist.**

**"What...what did you do?" Bass repeated, stammering badly.**

**"I fixed you." Wily answered simply, casually wiping some of the grease that was constantly on his hands on the edge of his lab coat. "These robots know their place, so I'm not going to restrain them. **_**You **_**needed to be punished. And no, don't get up. Stay down there. I like you being submissive for once. I really hope for your sake that you've learned your lesson."**

**The dark robot's face and fists clenched as he remained there kneeling, unable to do anything about the robot masters that continued to mock him or the human that wouldn't stop sneering at him. If only he was the same as before, then he would make sure they never opened their mouths again. His only reply to his master was an obscenity.**

**"You still don't get it?" Dr. Wily pretended to be disdainful, but that was difficult when he was grinning so wide. "I have one last punishment for you, and hopefully you'll remember afterwards that **_**I **_**am the master and **_**you **_**are the servant." Elec Man walked out of the crowd and handed Dr. Wily a broom. "Ah, thank you, Elec Man. Bass, my new fortress is dirty from being so newly built. I want you to sweep out the entire castle right now, and don't stop until it's clean."**

**"Screw you-"**

**The broom landed at Bass' knee, and trembling, he picked it up. He desperately wanted to throw it back at the mad doctor, but he couldn't. The programming in his head activated, and after a sickening moment of the programs invading his mind, he found himself swishing the plastic bristles against the tile floor. A burst of fresh laughter ensued from the robot masters. This continued in all the other parts of the castle as Bass swept through them all and other robot masters could see his predicament. Team 5 didn't laugh (other than Gyro Man), and Burner Man only laughed until he found out why everyone else was. Then he abruptly disappeared, his pity a worse insult than any of the mockery. The others wouldn't let up, and they purposefully tracked in more dirt and mud until finally Wily got tired of the constant mess and made them stop. **

Before that day, Bass had bullied and intimidated his creator without expecting repercussion. Afterwards, all he could do was rebel as much as he could with his words, and nothing more. And Wily didn't care at all. Let the robot have his useless insults - Wily had the advantage, and Bass was nothing more than his most powerful slave.

The whole situation with roboenza had made no sense. Wily had given him no orders, but because Bass wanted to kill something he went ahead and looked for the machine parts to make the cure for roboenza. It was entertaining to kill the team 10 'bots, but once Wily revealed it was him that started everything in the first place, Bass gave up. He stopped caring. He didn't even bother fighting Mega Man for the umpteenth time.

Of course Wily would want his dark creation to get him out of the hospital once he was well enough, and there was only more bickering after that.

**"You couldn't bother helping me defeat him? Miserable, useless fool!"**

Bass kicked at a rock, watching it roll down the hill. He _was _miserable, and he was useless. He finally admitted to himself that in his many years as a servant to Dr. Wily he would have been happy to actually impress the man. But he had never done that. Time and time again he had failed to stop the blue bomber.

What did it matter when he changed to the good side? He hadn't saved any of the scientists Wily had targeted during the apocalypse, nor had he saved any of the people he tolerated. He hadn't even saved his best friend, Treble, who had died in his defense. Worse yet, Bass hadn't saved Rock. Ever since Mega Man had stopped Wily from activating the self-destruct function built in Bass' systems, the dark robot could barely stand it. And once he had the opportunity to return the favor, he had failed. Rock was dead. Forte had to wonder if anything he did was worthwhile in helping Mega Man X. Surely Rock and the others had done everything, and he had done nothing.

**"What the hell is wrong with you?" **

**"YOU!" Jewel Man shouted in reply. "What have you ever done that means anything? You let Dr. Imahara die in the dumbest way possible, and you were utterly helpless stopping Ring Man from killing Dr. Polovstiansky! **_** Ring Man**_**! I could beat that idiot twice with my eyes closed, and **_**you're**_** supposed to be the greatest robot ever? And then, the worst thing you could have possibly done is not tell Rock about Zero from the very beginning! He could have found the real Zero and destroyed him! But you're so useless and arrogant that now any moment he could show up and make things worse than they already are!"**

That exchanged pained him as if it had just happened. A new, vibrant hatred for Zero began. He hated Zero for what he had done to the future, but he hated him worse for becoming a good guy and making it so X would defend him. Bass wanted to cause Zero as much pain as he could, and yet it was too late for that, not if he wanted X to leave him alone. Most of all, he hated himself for not putting a stop to Zero in the first place. He could have killed Zero and stopped all these nonsense Maverick Wars once and for all. And now everyone, humans and robots alike, had suffered because of his failure. He didn't even know half of them. He was every bit the failure that Jewel Man had called him.

**"That day when Wily set Bass' self destruct...you should have let him **_**die**_**."**

Bass closed his eyes, whispering, "No...I should have died long before that."

All those times Mega Man beat him he could have killed him. Bass saw that now. The far too merciful Mega Man had let him live, every single time. But no, he shouldn't have even died then - he should never have been created in the first place.

Forte looked back up at the trash compactor. It was almost full. He would have to get ready soon. But there was time enough for one last memory.

**They had just defeated Team 2 and the Cain robot masters all at once, and now Dr. Wily was cornered. Mega Man had gone after Cut Man, and Proto Man had chosen to take down the Skull Capsule so that Wily couldn't escape. Bass had chosen to grab his old master, but there was no hunt to it. The pathetic man was having some sort of heart attack, he assumed, and all he had to do was go up to him and grab him.**

**"Come on, old man." Forte was surprised how nice he was being as he held up Dr. Wily and kept him from collapsing in the street. "Let's get you over to an ambulance. Don't be an idiot, just cooperate."**

**"Hee...hee...muahah..aha!" **

**Wily still managed a wheezing laughter through his pain. Bass was intent on ignoring it, but Wily wasn't going to let him. He turned and faced his creation, staring him coldly in his eyes.**

**"It isn't going to last, Bass. All this good guy stuff...someday you're going to screw it all up. You're going to fail in the worst way imaginable!" Wily began to laugh, and it was his most sinister, poisonous laugh to date. "You weak, pathetic fool! You're no better than the other crap robots I built! So enjoy this 'hero' stuff while it lasts, Bass...hee hee ha! You don't really think you can win at anything, do you? You're a failure! Miserable...failure...ha, ha ha..."**

**As the final insult, Wily had died there in his arms, leaving his repulsive body behind as he began his descent into hell.**

Bass wished he could fight those words, but he couldn't. He had no fight left in him. Wily had been right. He had failed. All of the mistakes Rock and Proto Man could possibly have made faded away into nonexistence. He had failed. Because of him, the Zero virus had lived on. Wily had won and scored his ultimate revenge against the world, and nothing he had ever bothered to do prevented it. And that was why Bass was now staring into the junkyard, planning on ending his useless existence.

"Haha...AHAHAHAHA!"

Bass burst out laughing. It was funny, so completely funny. Had his creator really driven him to this? It wasn't possible. He wasn't some pathetic machine, he was Bass! Forte, the mighty, the invincible! He had survived the robot apocalypse, decades of rusting underground, and had defeated three Mavericks at once despite the fact that he was over 120 years old. He was awesome! Suicide? Why would he do that?

"I BET YOU'D REALLY LIKE THAT, OLD MAN!" he screamed into the empty air. "YOU WOULD, WOULDN'T YOU? WELL TOO BAD! YOU CAN'T MAKE ME!"

Bass stood up, not caring that several workers down at the junkyard were now staring at him. But what did it matter? Wily had killed Rock, damaged earth's economy, endangered millions of lives, and spread his virus with impunity. But one of the evil doctor's simplest goals had ended in failure; the ever beligerent Bass was still alive. The dark robot had every intention of keeping it that way.

But now that he had decided that he was going to live the question of what to do next loomed over him. He was still damaged from his fight with Zero, and he hadn't been at his best in the first place, even when he didn't consider his missing arm. Grumpily, Bass realized that the Maverick Hunters was probably the best place for him to get repaired. But his pride had been severely damaged there, and he had no desire whatsoever to go back. Perhaps if he found someone else able to repair him...

_No...they've been working on X and Girly for...however long it's been. Who else would know how to work on old robots?_

He sighed. There was no getting around it. But there was still some fight in him left, and he comforted himself with the notion that there would be plenty of Mavericks for him to beat the crap out of, and that thought alone delighted him. The only way to satisfy his pride was to kill off some more of those virus-ridden idiots and make a name for himself. If he couldn't go back to the Hunters with his head held high, then he wasn't going back at all. Not under his own power, anyway. He got to his feet, stubbornly digging them into the ground with resolution.

A dread still made itself known. Revenge against Wily wasn't enough. Not for him to live in this sort of world. None of his failures had disappeared, and each one clasped poisonously to his remaining determination. But Bass stubbornly held his ground, resisting the dark thoughts that still remained within him. If he was going to die, it would be against Mavericks, in the apparently never-ending war against Wily. He wasn't going to take the coward's way out. That was not the Forte way of doing things.

With grim determination, Bass strolled on. He wasn't really sure where he was or where he would find any Mavericks (oh, to kill an idiot!), so he just wandered down to the junkyard to get his bearings. He didn't notice at first the commotion that was starting next to the office of the place. But soon he did, and he casually hung on the chain-link fence to see what was going on. A crowd of people was gathered there, and they seemed to be holding some sort of robot. There crowd was to thick to see past, so Bass just listened.

"Where did you find this thing?"

"In my new backyard! I was putting in a pool and there it was. I wonder how old it is."

"It might be valuable!"

"It looks a mess. It won't be valuable at all unless we can repair it - "

"This doesn't look good, Cavis. She's just too old. Rusted, and besides that, no one knows how to get one of these old things started again, even if it were brand new."

"Come on, she's got to be worth something."

"Eh, she's worth twenty zenny to me - my price for getting rid of old metal for you."

"You're serious?"

"I'd love to repair her, but I don't think there's anyone in the world that would know how. You see her condition, besides."

"I guess I'll pay up, then. I don't need any rusted out junk. Pity, though."

A faint murmur of curiousity stirred up in Bass. He had nothing better to do than look, and he figured he could at least ask someone his location if whatever this was about proved disinteresting. Some of the people were staring at him oddly, especially because he was in such bad shape, but Bass ignored them. Wondering what it was they were talking about, Bass seached around uncertainly - until he spotted a rusted, but very familiar helmet on the body of a robot that was being hauled by a skinny reploid to the trash compactor's conveyor belt.

_PROTO MAN'S HELMET? How the crap is that still around? _

Bass promptly kicked the reploid and snatched the robot away, laying it out on the carcass of an old, broken down mechaniloid and ignoring the protests of the people around him. He snatched off the helmet, and under it was the face of the last person he ever expected to see again.

Roll.

"Roll!"

She was rusted, dirty, and creaking at every joint, but the face was the same, though rusted over by time. Her once brilliantly blue eyes were cracked and one of them was smashed entirely, leaving only an edge of crackled white around her open eyelids. Her armor (his armor!) was banged up and scratched with a few spackles of stiff paint still clinging on in random patches. As he surveyed the damage of the poor girl, a certain flashback popped up in Forte's mind.

**"If I don't make it back, please protect Roll. She's not strong..." Mega Man looked up at Bass with earnest, pleading eyes. "Please, I couldn't stand it if something happened to her because I wasn't there to protect her! She can't manage on her own...not with the world like this. You've got to watch out for her! Promise me you'll keep her safe if I die!"**

_Rock...you idiot..._ Bass almost laughed aloud. _I bet you knew this would happen, didn't you?_

Bass meant no insult by his words, but he had few compliments in his vocabulary. Still, if Mega Man were alive to see the smile on his face, he by no means would have been offended. Roll was here, and though Bass had barely gotten to know her at all in the past, she was a purpose. She was a reason to go on living; revenge was by no means good enough to live on. Better still, she was X's sister. He could go back to Maverick Hunter HQ with pride intact, for her sake of course. And if he happened to get repaired at the same time, well, he earned it. He had made a promise, and he was going to keep it. Even if it was just a promise to the blue dweeb. But first things first. He had to see if she worked.

He examined her, noticing that the helmet wasn't the only thing she had borrowed. The strength, design, and sound the legs made when Bass tapped on them made it very obvious that the legs were his own spare ones. And of course he knew the Mega Buster on her left arm when he saw it. Her right arm was...something. It took him a minute to realize that it was an energy sword generator. He had a brief moment of oddity when he imagined that Roll had somehow been the one to defeat Rock, but he pushed that thought aside as soon as it popped up. He knew the difference between a plasma sword and an energy sword.

One of the humans, a big, burly man nearer to fifty than forty, pushed his way through the crowd.

"What are you doing with my property?" he demanded.

Bass turned and glared with such hideous daring that the man backed away two steps. Snatching away a screwdriver from the reploid at the human's side, he removed the panel from Roll's head, no easy task with only one arm.

_Poor Roll...this metal is nearly rusted through. _Bass noted as he settled down the plate. _I don't know if I can deal with this..._

"Do you...know how to fix her?" It was the human again.

"BACK OFF AND GIVE ME SOME ROOM!"

They obeyed, and the crowd of workers gave him a generous radius. But the crowd got thicker all the same. Security reploids started showing up. Bass didn't notice. He reserved all his focus on the internal workings of Roll's head. His technical study came in handy, and parts of her head started looking familiar to him. It looked like most of it was intact and none of the pieces were missing, fortunately. But rust and dirt were everywhere, and Bass hardly knew where to start.

He started by doing a wiring check - he would allow her to have a small amount of his power (not that he had a particular lot to spare at that moment) to see if her wiring made a complete circuit. It didn't, but except for some wiring issues, it looked like she was more dirty than broken. Bass checked to see how much free space he had on his hard drive. Worst come to worst, he could at least absorb her memory and -

Bass snapped around scowling terribly at the reploid that dared approach him. It was a humanoid bot with green armor, and was a lot more boring looking than the other extravagant (ugly) reploids Bass had seen to that point. He shakily lifted a toolbox over towards Bass, reluctant to come any closer.

"I can't work like this." the dark robot muttered.

Replacing Roll's cranium plating for the time being, Bass carefully pulled her over his shoulder.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" The man's face was starting to get red with anger as he spoke. "If you can fix her, do it, but she doesn't belong to you so she's staying here!"

Forte didn't bother answering, though if he did his response would be a combination of two comments, one informing the human that Roll indeed was his property and the other a sickening reference to the man's mother. Surprising even himself (just a little), one-armed Bass managed to snatch the toolbox while still holding the girl-bot over his shoulder. That done, he hopped away over the fence and ran off. He could have just teleported, but it was funnier to him to dodge the security reploids' shots and put them to shame. The frantic cursing of their manager was the icing on the cake.

That done, Bass teleported a short distance away, gently placing Roll in the grass and beginning again at the work.

"You're going to be alright, Roll. I keep my promises."

-t-

Meanwhile at Hunter HQ, the tone of the small meeting could hardly have been darker if someone had announced the return of Sigma. Signas, X, Zero, Axl, and Alia were gathered in Signas' office, as they were the only ones that now knew the truth about Zero and the Maverick Virus, and they were going to have to deal with it somehow. Zero was slumped against the wall, separate from the others. He felt like he was awaiting the verdict of a jury, one that didn't like him very much.

X glanced back at his friend with pity, uncertain whether he should keep giving Zero a little space or try to say something to him. He settled on the former for the moment, uncertain that he could do anything for Zero. Axl was completely confused, and he looked back at Zero with more than a little confusion. It was clear he was trying his hardest not to believe that Zero was the cause of all their battling. The concept just didn't fit to him. Alia, on the other hand, hadn't looked at Zero since they entered the building. A stubbornness was in her eyes and upper lip, and she kicked one leg like a child unwillingly putting up with a time-out.

None of them were concerned about Bass, for the moment, as they had Layer scanning for him in the navigation room. That gave them the time to talk, though at first little of that was going on. Signas had just finished telling the others about how Zero had transferred the Maverick Virus to Sigma.

"Our main concern," Signas continued. "Is how to properly contain this new information. While no one outside this room knows about the virus, it is very clear to all of the Maverick Hunters that a robot last known for fighting in the apocalypse has a problem with Zero. Rumors are sure to be spreading, and we're going to have to have a logical explanation for this without divulging the truth."

Alia started, growing upset at her boss. "What? We're letting him stay? Do you have any clue how dangerous it is to keep Zero around our most valuable Hunters when at any moment the virus could spread?"

The red reploid felt stabbed at her words, and none of his fearful glances caught her attention. It had been lingering in the back of his mind but now the idea of him being destroyed came right around to the forefront, refusing to go away. X too was shocked, and Alia had two robots to ignore. She stared straight ahead at Signas, waiting for his answer.

And then she had three, but Axl was the hardest to block out. "What do you mean? Of course, we're going to keep Zero!"

"Are you crazy?" Alia snapped at him, causing Axl to jump back. "He's not safe and something has to be done!"

"Stop talking like that, Alia!" X desperately joined in. "Zero is not our enemy!"

"You still say that after he killed Mega Man?"

"We don't know that Bass was telling the truth!" X tried his hardest not to let his doubt weaken his resolve, but he knew Zero's Maverick past. He knew there was the possiblity that the accusation of killing his brother was fact. "I refuse to believe it!"

_With all this arguing being dismantled doesn't sound so bad._ Zero scowled at the floor.

"Calm down, all of you." Signas ordered before focusing on Zero's accuser. "Zero has been a Hunter for a long time. If there was any risk of anyone getting it, then Mavericks would have appeared from our own ranks rather than from the outside. Don't forget, you or I are just as vulnerable to it as any other reploid."

Alia tried to protest, but she could think of nothing to say. That is, not until she saw in her periphery the hurt that Zero tried so hard to disguise, and it sickened her. What right did he have to be upset? Eyes narrowing, she found the words to go on.

"But what about Gate? He made his reploids using a part from Zero...that's where the Zero nightmare came from! You should have told me about this so I could at least work on a cure or something!"

"That only means that Zero's parts are safer inside him than otherwise." Signas replied. "In any case, how do we know that you working on him would have a different result than Gate's?"

"If I can ask, how did you find out about this?" Zero uncomfortably asked his leader, reluctant to attract any more attention to himself.

It was X that answered Zero's question. "You told me what Sigma had shown you about the virus, and well...I thought it was best that Signas knew. You're not offended, are you?"

Zero fidgeted. As little as he liked this, there was no point in complaining about it. Zero got back to staring at the floor, getting increasingly sick of this conversation. Was he going to be betrayed by everyone he knew today? His rational mind managed to gain control before he spoke.

"You did what you thought was best." he weakly managed.

X felt torn up on the inside for his friend. He knew how hard Zero had worked over the years, and better than anyone else he knew the pain that Zero had because of his origins. Seeing the pity in X's eyes, Alia scoffed and folded her arms. Was everyone going to just excuse Zero for what he had done? Gate had been one of her closest colleagues, once. And she couldn't help but think if it weren't for him, Gate wouldn't have to have been killed. And he wasn't the only friend she had lost during the wars. Everyone had friends that had gone Maverick, and everyone knew the bitter sting of loss.

"So what are you going to do? He's potentially dangerous!" Alia said, trying to keep her frustration under control. "What if someone else somehow gets another part of Zero and then it's the Zero Nightmare all over again?"

"You're always saying that Zero's data can't be analyzed completely." Signas remained calm, but from his tone Alia knew she had better be careful how she spoke. "And you also said that Gate was a brilliant mind - better than you, in fact. I don't believe the common Maverick, or even Sigma, can do anything harmful in that way. Sigma would have tried if that were possible. Alia, I want to make it very clear," Signas leaned forward in his chair. "You're not to tell anyone about this. That's an order."

"I can't believe this!" Alia protested. "You're really going to let him continue to be a Hunter? He should be-"

"He should be _what_, Alia?"

The technician didn't have to say. The pain and hatred in her eyes answered the question for them. But she knew that there was no way Signas would listen to her. She threw her hands in the air. "Fine. I won't tell anyone."

"Let me remind you that Zero has been a Hunter for a long time," Signas was stern and unrelenting. "And his record is unimpeachable. A lot of reploids look up to him. Seeing as he hasn't spread the virus in the many years he's been working with us, there's no reason to think that he can. Nor was any of this intentional. The only thing that's changed is that now you know about it. I expect you to keep yourself under control, Alia. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good. Now go and help Layer find Bass. You will say nothing of this meeting. That's an order."

"...Yes, sir..."

Alia wanted to find out more of what would happen, and she didn't like being excluded from a meeting like this. But she was an obedient reploid, even though her world was turning upside down. She left without a word, even resisting the intoxicating urge to slam the door. Once she was gone, Signas turned to Axl.

"Are you going to be able to keep quiet about this, Axl? ...Axl?"

"Oh!" Axl started, blinking back into awareness. "Sorry, I was just looking at these memories Bass gave me. I was hoping I'd find out something that might help or give us a clue about what Bass knows."

"That's a good idea." X said in that encouraging tone he always tried to take with Axl. It felt like a relief to change his tone. "Find anything?"

"Not yet. It's just clips of Crystal Bot. She's so cute!" Axl had to smile. He liked being based off of her. "She was pretty much Bass' navigator, so maybe she'll say something important."

"I'll want a copy of those memories." Signas said. "But for now I need to know what you're feeling about this."

"I...I don't really know what to think." Axl got a little nervous and began scratching the back of his head. "I mean, the Maverick Virus has been around way before I was built...it feels like ancient history. But I do know that Zero is my friend, and we've been through too much together for me to just get upset about this. I don't want to throw that away. I won't say anything about the virus."

X was proud of Axl. The young Hunter was being very mature, and it saddened him that Alia couldn't do the same. "That's very good of you, Axl. Of course Signas, you realize that Alia and Axl are probably not going to be the hardest to keep quiet. Bass is very vengeful. If we don't find him soon, we have no way of knowing how far he's willing to spread this."

_Bass_...Zero thought numbly. With only a little guilt he wished that Bass had never been found. Bass hadn't liked the look of him (to put it mildly), and the opposite was definitely true. He could recall his vivid dreams of the withered old man, whose haunting, creaking voice urged him to do nightmarish things, not the least of which was to murder X, his best friend and someone he would trust for anything. When Zero had fought Bass, the evil in the dark robot's gaze could bring to mind no one else but that demented human. They looked so much alike...

"Wow!" Axl suddenly exclaimed. "No wonder he looks so much like him!"

Zero jumped, almost wondering if Axl was reading his mind.

"Who looks like who?" X asked, almost as startled as Zero.

"Bass looks like Zero!" Axl exclaimed.

"Well, he does sort of look similar in the face." X said, much to Zero's dismay, as he examined his friend's face. "As if they were related."

"They are related!" The young hunter started to get more excited. "And Alia did say that Zero's power core was similar to his! It's because they have the same creator! And that's Dr...Wily..." Axl's voice slowed as he realized how terrible what he was saying was.

Everyone's eyes widened, and X couldn't resist looking at his companion with the same level of horror that Zero felt. Axl went over to the screen behind Signas' desk to show the memory he had just seen to the rest of them, and all eyes went to it.

**"Forte-kun! Welcome back! **_**Kaja**_** and look at what I made for you!" the perspective of the memory showed a peppy, crystaline girl-bot pulling Bass over to an automated machine monitor. "**_**Chan**_**! I can double the power of your crystal buster addition, and also make it so you can run and shoot at the same time!"**

**"Cool. I never got why Wily made me that way..."**

**"It's more complicated than it looks." Crystal Bot started pushing buttons on the machine as she talked. "So, didya find your lil' brother today?"**

**"For the last time, Sonata, robots don't have family!" Bass said with obvious disgust. "And even if we did I'd still have to kill Zero anyway."**

**"Yeah, I know. **_**Aigoo**_**, Zero is so ugly. I just wanna remodel him so bad!"**

**"I think saving the world is a **_**little**_** more important than fixing an ugly robot."**

There was no point in watching any more, and Signas turned off the clip. There was silence again for a moment. Zero lowered his eyes.

"It...it makes so much sense, I guess..." X muttered. For once since this whole thing started he was depressed. "You were made by Dr. Wily..."

Zero looked up and scowled. "Well, who else from that time could have built me? Dr. Cossack? There was no one good enough to program a virus of that caliber! And no one else would have the motivation! Of all things, _this_ upsets you?

X didn't answer. He couldn't. He loved Zero as much as he hated Dr. Wily, and his heart didn't know what direction to go. Secretly he had hoped that some unknown scientist, maybe a trainee of Dr. Light, had built him. But that was no good: Zero had been violent when he was activated. Perhaps he was built by another and only stolen by Wily...if only X knew that story wasn't true. He trembled...the idea he had about Zero being made for good had to be excluded. Zero was his enemy, and only by sheer luck was he anything different. The idea that Zero was built to kill him - of course Wily would want it that way - only further sank him into his gloom. He slammed his eyes shut, letting hateful curses circle through his mind rather than past his lips.

"Again, there has to be complete silence about this." Signas affirmed, completely focused, at least on the surface. "Zero, you are always welcome with the Hunters."

"That's right, we'll always be your friends!" Axl piped up. "Nobody cares where you came from! Well, except Alia...but..."

Zero's frown wrinkled up a bit. That was as close to laughter as he was going to get. Sometimes Axl had no idea how awkward some of the things he said were. He looked over at X, daring only a little hope. He knew how X felt about Dr. Wily. And if he truly had killed X's brother, he had no right to expect any forgiveness.

His hopes were not ill founded. Though shaken, X knew what he wanted to say. "Zero, our friendship has lasted through war, death, fights with Sigma, and even learning about the virus itself. And it will survive this."

"Thank you."

That was all Zero could say. He was too emotional, and he hated it. All of his life he had tried to be as in control as possible, and he hated people feeling sorry for him. Zero was used to being the one X could talk to about his fears and hopes for the future, not the other way around. Zero liked being "the strong, silent type", letting everyone else's drama take precedent, especially since his own issues were hazardous. The guilt he carried he feared would never leave him. There was no point in talking about it.

Bass. Stupid Bass. His own brother had wanted him to die. But if he was going to be honest with himself, Zero couldn't blame him. How would he know that Zero constantly fought his hardest every day to make up for what he had done, to make up for his horrible heritage? The fact that he was "family" wouldn't matter: Bass' family was the wicked Wily and his plethora of ridiculous robot masters. Zero's heart sank. That was his family too. And now the old, evil man in his dreams had a name: Dr. Albert Wily.

"You've been scanned for any sign of the virus during every rest period, just like any other Hunter." Signas said. "But if it's possible we're going to have to intensify the detection power of the scans. I'm concerned that too extensive a search by any of our scientists could prove risky for them. This is the best we can do."

"It's a good thing that the Mavericks only care about trying to get _my _mind." X said cautiously. "If they knew about this..."

Zero was quiet, silently thankful that X didn't go on. He could guess what would happen if their enemies found out. Then again, if Sigma never tried to capture him, then there probably wasn't any way for them to use his mind to spread the virus - that Sigma knew of. Zero's thoughts continued to spiral downwards, but this was interrupted by an audio message from Layer.

"Commander Signas, we're getting an emergency call from Briggs City junkyard."

"Put it on."

Another audio message came in, this one obviously a human, and an angry one at that. "Commander Signas! You've got to come out here and do something about this Maverick!"

"How many are there?"

"Just one. He came in and stole a machine I was trying to repair and then just disappeared!"

"Calm down, sir, what did he look like?"

"He was black with gold trim, and he had these weird...fins on his helmet."

The Hunters looked at each other knowingly. X asked, "Was he missing an arm?"

"Yes, he was. Ah, so he's a suspect in a crime, is he? Been tracking him a long time?"

"We'll be right there, just send us teleport coordinates."

\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Ha, none of y'all saw that comin', did ya? I tried hard to foreshadow Bass' extreme depression in Wily Ga Taosenai, and I'm not quite sure how well it came out. But yeah, everything that happened has given Bass a fear of failure. But at the end of the day, he's still himself, and he wouldn't be able to go through with something like that.

- It always annoys me when people pair up Zero and X. There is a deep love that isn't romantic love, and when people try to characterize it as romantic, it pisses me off at the oversimplifying of it or ignoring of it. Of course, they got that "bromance" thing going on in hollywood and whatnot, so I guess not everyone is ignoring it.

- _Kaja_ means "let's go" or "come on", a very casual korean way to say it. _Chan_ means "tada". _Aigoo_ is a mild expression of annoyance, like "darn". Crystal Bot is obsessed with Korea, for the newcomers to the story.

- I forgot to mention something to the newcomers. In my trilogy, there was a villain named Dr. Nikola Cain who was an excellent programmer, but a shoddy robotics technician. He built eight robot masters that were kinda lame, but Wily forced Dr. Cain into serving him, stealing the robots for himself and using them in the robot apocalypse. Signal Man was the lamest one, and he could freeze time, slow down robots with a jamming shot, and shoot green lasers (think traffic light). Emit Man had a shield of random things surrounding him, and shot flying blade bombs that damage both when they hit and when they explode. Psycho Man was a clown robot with tall, thin legs like poles, and his arms were held on only by electricity. These arms could turn into a mini-clown, and three orbs around his neck generated lightning. Echelon Man is a very boring robot that can go from humanoid to six triangle shaped parts that fly, and his weapon makes all electricity work against the robots that fight him with it. Bullet Man has two different kinds of bullets and a laser, besides being able to glide like a bullet himself. Sight Man is a skinny, ninja robot that looks like a geometric ant (think Nintendo 64), and carries a huge cannon on his back. Algorhythm Man is the hacker-bot that can cause robots not to be able to teleport or communicate, and he has a colored set of laser pellets for weaponry. Epic Man fires homing torpedos and sends out a massive electromagnetic pulse that hits all robots nearby. Demi is a small, vicious little robot that assisted Dr. Cain, and when combined with Epic Man they form Epidemic Man, who is stronger and spreads viruses. You may not need to know quite all that, but there it is.

- Also, a couple of things about the Mavericks: if you get one, you can do with it whatever you want. Mess with the name, change the weapon, write a story, whatever. It's yours. Also, I can't use all these guys in my story right here. Besides that being a really gimmicky thing to do, I have a lot of reviewers. I dunno...I might include one if I feel like it, but I can't include everybody. It's like trying to base characters in your stories off your friends: if you don't have inspiration for it, you can't do it.

Jade Ryuusugin

======Darling Malachite

**"Don't call me cute!"**

Darling Malachite is a very young Maverick, and was only two years old when he caught the Maverick Virus. He has a metal helmet in the shape of emo hair covering his face, and he loves rocks and stones of all kinds. He jumps very high, and throws rocks at a ridiculous speed. He has a thin sword which he uses to cut stone, and he likes to cut boulders from the ceiling to crush his enemies. He's very, very adorable. Players who beat him get the Malachite Foil, which is of course Darling's sword, and you can cut through walls and baddies with ease.

I didn't know what Ryuusugin meant, but I do know that if I searched google with it, I got a lot of those weird Japanese cartoon girl dancing video things. Hence the "Darling". Malachite of course refers to stones. I would also like to point out that I don't know if Jade is a dude or a chick. :)

ThatFanFicGuy

======Omnibus Gamin

**"Tell me more..."**

Omnibus is a historian, and he loves knowing everything about everything. He is the owner of a vast digital library, and it always about discovering more about the Maverick Hunters. Sometimes people wonder if he's too interested in studying the Hunters to fight them properly, but he's a very useful Maverick. He shoots spines, spins into enemies, and can jump on them. Players how beat him get the Omnibus Spine Gun, which fires five shots in a spread attack.

I didn't know quite where to go with this one, so I picked "omnibus" as a reference to having knowledge (i.e. knowing enough about a universe to write fanfiction about it) and "gamin" is slang for "street urchin".

Numbervania

======Cipher Apparition

**"Boo! I'm a ghost! Booooo...!"**

Cipher is ridiculously hyper. He jumps about everywhere, and he flashes a shimmering light to blind his enemies. He's the fastest Maverick alive, and he lets everyone know about it. He can calculate math at hyper speeds, and while he doesn't have a weapon, Cipher can unleash a fake version of himself that has a gun. If the player beats him, they get Warrior Apparition, which produces a fake image of the player and tricks baddies into shooting it instead of the real player. It also does damage if an enemy runs into it.

"Cipher" came from Number, and since "-vania" reminded me of vampires, I went with a synonym: Apparition. Actually, that word usually refers to ghosts rather than vampires, but whatever.


	4. Reunion

Bass was making good progress, he guessed. He wasn't sure if he could really tell, but Roll's head was starting to look a little more familiar. The task of fixing her was very annoying outside of a proper lab. In the grass, short as it was, there really wasn't any space to organize Roll's parts without being afraid he'd lose them. But finally he thought he had solved the main problems in her head, thanks to the spare wire in the toolbox he'd stolen. He closed Roll's cranial panel up and activated her with his fingers crossed.

The now faded, rusty eyes opened, their immediate expression one of confusion. Roll gasped a bit, and dust puffed out of her mouth. Weak hands reached up trying to find something.

"Rodney?" her raspy voice tried. "Are you there? My eyes don't work. Can you fix them?"

"Uh...who's Rodney?"

"Who are you?" though weak, her voice still conveyed what an irritated Bass considered a far unnecessary level of suspicion. "What is your name?"

"Roll, you know me..."

"Roll?" The girl-bot tried her hardest to sneer. "What kind of name is that?"

Bass growled and snapped her off. He went back an pulled off the panel. Going through her head again, He hoped something was wrong mechanically. That sort of problem he might be able to fix; if someone had reset her memory chip, then there was nothing he could do. Bass knew next to nothing about AI or CPUs. Trying not to be hasty, he dug into her mind again. And then he found the problem.

"That's it?" the dark robot was both annoyed and amazed at once. "Her primary memory chip isn't plugged in properly? That's so stupid. A five year old can fix that. How the crap does that happen?"

But he got on with pushing it into place, carefully replacing the rest of her head and hoping that would do it. He was far from patient, and as soon as he found a proper technician to set her right he would have them set her head right - and hopefully that person would get her out of this rusty piece of crap she used for a body. He switched her on again, praying that she would come to.

Roll gasped at once, and her once tough voice had now gone back to its regular self. She sputtered with a sob, and was almost glitching as she started to speak. She reached out a wavering hand.

"Bass...Bass, please be there still!"

Bass grabbed her hand. "I'm right here, Roll. Now give me a systems check."

"Something's...wrong with it. A lot of me is damaged...and the memories...they...I don't know what happened...I don't understand."

"It's alright now. I can fix you...or maybe just rebuild you." Bass gave her rusted exterior a glance. "Heh, when did you steal my legs?"

Roll's dirty face creaked as she pulled it into a faint smile. "Mine broke...I needed them...I...I can't believe what I did...is it really true? I forgot everyone...I forgot Dr. Light..."

Bass almost swore as he realized that plugging in her memory chip was a bad idea in her condition. She had obviously spent some time on her backup memory drive, and adding more memories to that - indeed, her entire original lifetime - could have severe consequences on the emotional regulator. That was bound to be trouble for a regulator so aged. She would have to load through all of her old memories to set her database properly. Bass could think of several memories that she would not want to relive.

"There he is!"

Bass snapped his head upwards, grimacing at the reploid above him, and wondering how stupid it had to be to alert him of its presence before he noticed (and how stupid he himself was to have to not watch his surroundings). It was a bat-like thing: purple fur with red wings flapping in the sky. Bass flung on his sensors, as certainly the bat thing had to be talking to someone - though Bass didn't immediately discard the idea that it was insane.

More reploids showed up within seconds. Behind him was a bird-bot, this one a ridiculously long-legged vulture, guffawed in a mightily demented and deep sound, creating the impression that he was almost drunk. Ahead of him stood a large, green and black rabbit-bot, brandishing his rather impressive teeth. A giant, pinto horse plunged his huge hooves into the soft earth, tearing large holes in the innocent grass.

"You thought you could just attack _our _friends and ruin _our _plans with impunity? I, Steed Gendarme, will put an end to the likes of you!"

The horse snorted with rage, stomping all the harder in the attempt to appear dangerous. The effect was lost on Bass, who could see nothing more than a poser, and this only angered the horse more. The innocent blades of grass were only further tormented by his pounding hooves.

"Yeeeess..." the slow tone of the vulture behind him sounded all the more drunk rather than sinister. "If it were the goose and the mole, I might not mind so much. They were, you might say, imbeciles. Stradivarius, on the other hand, actually had something of a brain. I'll miss him."

"Bass..." the wrecked girl-bot in his arms called out fearfully. "What's going on?"

The dark robot didn't take his furious eyes off the enemies as he spoke, but his soft voice was calm, in control, and even soothing.

"Roll, I'm going to shut you down now. When you wake up, you will be repaired, safe, and with Mega Man X."

"You'll be there too, right?"

This took Forte by surprise. It was sweet of her to be worried about him. A dark sensation welled up, and Bass realized that he could very well die there. With himself in that condition and against that many at once, it wouldn't be a challenge. Certainly an organization as big as the Maverick Hunters would be able to get there quickly as soon as they found out about the fight, but there was little hope Bass himself would survive until then. A darkness reached him, asking him why would that be so bad? He could hold on tightly to the comforting words that Roll would be safe, and his troubles would be over. But that darkness was wrong, and Bass knew it.

"Yeah, I'll stick around. I promise."

Bass shut Roll down, gently laying her back in the grass and wishing he was still at the junkyard. As much as that insistent human had badgered him, he could have at least taken Roll to somewhere the Mavericks couldn't see her. But it was too late, and the baddies were only amused by the conversation.

"Aw, how cute!" The bunny's laughter was so sharp and psycho that it was the one thing about the group that actually freaked Bass out a little. "'E's got 'imself a girlfriend! Let's KILL 'er!"

"Good idea, Cuniculus!" the bat cheered in its shrill squeaks. "Let's do that!"

"Bad idea, retard." Bass retorted as he readied his buster. "Get ready to die!"

In any other circumstance, even Bass would admit he'd avoid a fight like this. Here he was, drained of power, torn up, and missing a limb, having to face down four Mavericks, each at full power. And the other three of their team hadn't been easy - there was no reason to assume any of these had less strength. Add to that the job of keeping Roll safe, and it was a sheer nightmare.

To anyone but Bass, that is. Now it was a dream come true. As he kept his eyes open, planning strategies and calculating weaknesses, he smiled. His lips couldn't turn further upwards. He was so happy. It was good to be smashing idiot's heads in. The very thought of it made his delighted grin grow even further.

A wave of fear washed through him: doubt took hold for a moment as he remembered how badly Zero had beaten him. Could he really manage these Mavericks? But the doubt disappeared almost as quickly as it arrived. These guys weren't Zero, and Bass wasn't going to let anyone harm Roll. In fact, the sheer joy on his face from having to fight them scared them off for a moment. But Steed was barely disuaded. He dug a hoof into the ground and charged.

**BOOM.**

"Huh?" Bass started, jumping back from the sparks flying out from the horse. "Who beat me to the punch?"

Without a word, Zero landed on the still struggling Gendarme and swung his saber through the Maverick's neck, grimly satisfied with the job. The bunny attacked the pony-tailed Hunter next, but only lost a paw for his efforts.

"I don't need your help!" the dark robot screamed. Zero ruined his life; he could at least let him have some fun. "Go braid your hair or have a tea party or whatever crap you do in your free time and stay out of my business!"

"It would hardly be respectful if I let you die, _brother_." Zero said the word with no small amount of distaste before he quickly dodged a bite from the rabbit-roid.

It was hard for Zero not to laugh when he saw the repulsed reaction from Bass. But as Bass looked over and saw X and Axl (who to his surprise were standing and watching on the side, giving Zero a strange look), he remembered the memory chip he had given the young Hunter. Forte snarled and shook his head. He grabbed the bat Maverick out of the air and threw it at Zero, blasting several purple shots at the vulture trying to take advantage of the distraction.

"Shut up and leave me alone! I don't need my ugly little _sister _following me around!" Bass followed this up with a few sordid insults that would make milk turn sour. Fortunately for the dairy industry, no cows or grocery stores were in the vicinity. X did sour, however, and he gave Axl an admonishing glare for giggling.

With two quick swipes of the Z saber, all that was left of the bat was a few bits of red metal. But no one was paying any attention to the wreck that was once a Maverick. Never in Zero's life had he heard such scathing remarks, not even from a Maverick. He was stunned by Bass' immaturity...and admittedly impressed by his clever turn of phrase, however disturbing it was. Glancing back a moment at X as he quickly finished off Cuniculus, Zero felt a bit bad for his friend. X was such an innocent robot for someone his age and with his mind. But Zero knew what he had to do.

Zero took a deep breath, closing his eyes and focusing. And then they opened, ferocity narrowing them dangerously. He began. The relentless stream of obscenities that ensued from his vocal extenuators could only be described as catastrophic. It would have surely slain any kittens, puppies, and any other small animals within two miles (how fortunate there were no petting zoos for miles) in a manner most painful and unbecoming. X's eyes grew so wide that everyone thought he would pass out. He had to just shut off his auditory recievers. Axl gasped, frozen in place. Everyone, including Zero himself, was surprised that the grass didn't die and turn brown in an instant from Zero's vile wording.

But Bass did laugh. He laughed so hard that if he had been human he would have easily suffocated. Bending over double, the dark robot could barely speak.

"That's not very ladylike, Sis!" he gasped between breaths. "And in front of your boyfriend too!"

Zero's eye twitched as he glared down his older brother. He lifted his voice like a stage villain and straightened his posture for greater effect. "I'm sick of you! You're nothing but a measly first draft of my greatness, and you dare mock me? Maybe you _think_ you can destroy me, but I haven't even shown you my most powerful weapon yet!"

Admittedly, Bass liked the sound of that. A new challenge sounded like fun, and he was nowhere near admitting that Zero was in any way superior, not once his pride had returned to him. He practically glowed with devious glee.

"Oh yeah? I'd like to see that!"

"So you'd like to die today, would you?"

"Don't talk about it if you can't follow through!"

"Don't tempt me unless you really enjoy being in pain!"

"You keep talking, but you're not doing anything! Come on!"

"Just remember that you asked for it!"

"Bring it, Girly!"

And bring it Zero suddenly did. To be honest, Bass wasn't expecting Zero to actually shoot him. It took him completely by surprise how quickly the blast hit him. Bass' world cut out for a second, and he shook, crumbling to the ground and struggling to get back up. It wasn't nearly as bad as being hit by X's fully charged blaster, but it was definitely something Bass didn't want to feel ever again.

"What the crap was that?"

With a thunk, something black landed in front of him. Blinking to clear up his vision, it took Bass a moment to realize that it was his own buster from the arm that had been severed. He looked up at a very amused red Hunter and realized that Zero had been messing with him the entire time. Forte was completely dumbfounded, and he stared at the buster as though it were an alien. Though he was completely exhausted, Bass had to laugh before he collapsed weakly into the dirt.

"Ah ha ha...alright, I give. You win. Your secret weapon is way too powerful for me. Finally defeated by a stupid girl-bot."

"That's getting old."

"Screw you."

Zero sighed with relief. His plan had worked, and his abrasive brother was finally calmed down. Bass looked in a bad way, though, and Zero guessed that his power had to be nearly exhausted. Bass had pushed himself too far, and he was still trying to push himself over to a decrepit girl-bot that Zero didn't recognise. The dark robot's armor was battered and banged up, and - was that Maverick still moving?

"Bass-" Zero tried to warn him.

With a sudden _**snap**_, Bass had hold of the vulture-bot's neck and slammed back to the ground. The bird struggled to get away, but Bass steadily ignored the kicks, grinning only more evilly as his fist tightened around the Maverick's neck. The imprisoned bot squawked with fear as the metal of his neck bent inwards, and he cried out for mercy.

"Please, please! I just do what I'm told!"

"What's your name, Birdy?"

"Sors Cathartidae!"

Bass winced. _What a terrible name..._ Outloud, Bass continued. "Alright, Sors," Bass growled. "I want you to go back to your boss and tell him that he's not going to get away with anything anymore. You Mavericks are _finished_. And if he asks why this is, then you tell them that the legendary hero Forte has returned! Remember the name, or I'll just have to remind you with the dead bodies of your idiot comrades!"

"Uh, is your name Forte or Bass?"

"Pick your favorite," Bass pulled the Maverick upwards and flung him away. "AND STICK WITH IT!"

Terrified, the bird-bot stumbled away, running until it got enough wind under its wings to fly off. Done with the foolish thing, Bass crawled over and sat next to Roll, done with his show of strength. He was torn up, his body more willing to admit his weakness than he was. All he could do was settle down with as much dignity as possible and act as if he was being a guard. It didn't work very well. Zero could feel stabs of pity as he watched Bass. Sitting next to the decrepit girl-bot made the scene look like an old, dusty picture; it was like a piece of history mourning the loss of the past.

X approached Bass, honestly not sure what to do with him. On the one hand, Bass was useful, historic, and more tough than any robot he had met other than Zero (they truly were family). And yet he was selfish and violent beyond X's fears. He had known something of Forte beforehand from what Dr. Light had put into his memory banks, but Bass' realized self was far more intense than anything Dr. Light could have described. X could only imagine what ideals Bass held dear, if any.

Axl looked curiously at all the fallen Mavericks. "Well, that's Steed Gendarme, and there's Vampire Cudgellion and Cuniculus Pepper, the Mavericks everybody's been talking about lately. Cathartidae's boss won't be happy once he hears about all this."

"Why did you let him get away?" X asked Bass, still annoyed with him. "He'll only start an even worse retaliation now."

"Pssht..." the dark robot didn't feel much like talking, and he continued only lazily. "I stuck a tracer on him. Track him and see where his base is."

"You stole a tracer from the lab?"

"No," Bass glared up at the Hunter. "I used the one you stuck on me. Thought I wouldn't notice, didn't you?"

X was taken aback. He didn't. But Bass let it go for the time being, focusing back on Roll. X looked downwards curiously. He gasped. He had plenty of pictures in his database from Dr. Light of what she looked like, and though she was half rebuilt with replacement parts, the pitiful girl-bot was still fully recognisable. Getting on the opposite side of her from Bass, X knelt down for a closer look, inspecting her as if he feared she was simply a delusion. He grabbed her hand just to make sure. Much to his happiness, she was real.

"I can't believe...this is..." X almost wept with joy. "This is..."

From his position behind Bass' shoulder, Axl piped up. "Proto Bot!"

"What?" Bass and X simultaneously exclaimed with scorn. Axl jumped back.

"Er, well," the young Hunter spoke up more nervously now. "They say that after the robot apocalypse happened that someone named Chris Tillman built a robot from all the old heroes, even Roll. She was supposed to have been a great hero of those days when the world was on the brink of despair."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bass scoffed. "This _is _Roll. Chris Tillman? Wait...Chris...Chris Tillman...ugh, that's not a human! It's 'Crystal Man' pronounced differently."

"Who's that?"

Bass was starting to get annoyed with having to talk. He gave an odd cough, his voice starting to creak a little. "Long story. I'll explain later."

X was still staring down at his older sister, both more happy and sad than he knew he could be at the same time. "Can she be repaired?"

"Eh, her mind is fine. She'll just have to be rebuilt."

Inwardly elated, the desperately grateful X looked up at the dark robot. There had been a lot of things he had expected from Bass once the latter robot had shown up, but all of those expectations faded away. How could he possibly have forseen that something as wonderful as this would happen? X had his sister now, and whatever else he wanted to think about Bass, he knew he was obligated to consider the irrational 'bot in a far better light.

"Bass...thank you..."

"You're welcome." the dark robot muttered heavily in reply, as speaking grew to be more difficult. _Finally this guy is grateful for once..._

X noticed that Zero was trying to get his attention, so as much as he wanted to stay by his sister, he got up and went for his friend, looking back over his shoulder the entire way as if she would disappear if he stopped looking for long.

"Sors may discover the tracer on him at some point soon." Zero said. "It will be for the best if you and Axl track him down as far as you can be without being discovered."

X nodded. "And you?"

"I want to stay here with Bass and Roll. I really doubt either of them can teleport and someone will need to wait here while HQ picks them up. I've already reported to Signas. Besides," Zero glanced over at Bass, who was listening to Axl's stories about Proto Bot. "I think it will be easier to talk to Bass when he's in no condition to fight."

"That's true." X turned his attention to the third hunter. "Axl, you come with me. We've got work to do. Bass, you and Roll will be picked up as soon as we can get a shuttle here."

Forte glance over at Zero, frowning. It was easy to guess what they were trying to do. With no response other than a sharp nod, Bass turned back to Roll, trying his best to recall everything he knew about robot construction. He didn't see X and Axl go, and he didn't pay any attention as Zero sat down beside him, forcibly ignoring the tall blonde.

For his own part, Zero didn't know what to think. He had a new brother he didn't want (and who certainly didn't want him), but he had no right to get rid of. His emotions, though usually so in control, were now running confused between extremes of hate, confusion, and pity. There were so many things he was curious about he didn't even know what to ask, and it was anyone's guess how Bass would reply. Zero was not eager for more of his rude sarcasm and vulgar insults. His brother's face alone was just another indicator of his evil creator, his dark nightmares, and the terrifying fate that haunted Zero and refused to let him go even in his sleep.

But as he stared at Bass, he couldn't help noticing that the dark robot was getting weaker. There wasn't enough power in Bass to keep him going for much longer, and if he didn't get energy soon, he would have to power up from a dead start. Zero had done that before, and it wasn't fun, to say the least. So his power core was similar to Bass'? Zero noticed the zip drive on Bass' neck, and he lifted his hand. His thumb converted into a plug-in, and he stuck it in Bass' neck.

This got a reaction. Trying to reach back and swat Zero away, Bass hissed, "Leave me alone!"

"Shut up and be grateful!" Zero roared back.

Bass' glare was full of the all the bitterness he could muster, and Zero's visage was no less ugly. They reminded each other of their hated creator more than ever. This staredown lasted for a minute, but eventually Bass just gave up and turned away. He had to realize how drained he was.

Zero hmphed. He had been more than generous with Bass already, and he wasn't sure he could put up with much more. But he was supposed to be making peace with Bass, or something like that was what he had in mind before. Now he wasn't so sure.

There was a part of Zero that had been in his mind ever since he could remember. It was a little voice, one he hated so much, that often reminded him to be compassionate when he least wanted to. This voice reminded him to think of things from Bass' perspective. Bass had lost everything and almost everyone he had ever known from his day - and who knew if Roll would survive? The world was a different place now, darker and malevolent. Zero mustered up as much courage as he could to look at Forte's face, though the dark robot seemed intent on ignoring him. Or trying to see how bad Roll's condition was. Or both.

For the first time, it wasn't Wily's face he saw. They were similar looking, but this was not Albert Wily. Forte didn't want what Wily wanted. He had even resisted his master. He had fought in the horrible robot apocalypse. With this thought came a strange revelation that stung Zero, making everything clear to him. What Zero had done against humanity and reploidkind was completely unintentional. He couldn't help spreading the virus because it was contagious all on its own, and his own evil when he had been activated was purely out of programming. He didn't have a choice. But Bass had. Bass had chosen the right thing, and he had been there, fighting back.

He had failed. As dark as Zero's own history was, Bass' was not much better. Zero had managed some good in his lifetime, but everything Bass had ever fought for was lost.

"Bass..." Zero was reluctant to ask. "There's no way you could have known that Roll was at the junkyard. Why did you go there in the first place?"

"Shut up."

Zero didn't really need an answer, the more he thought about it. Watching Bass, he noticed an eye twitch. The dark robot was hiding it, trying to appear strong. He wasn't very good at it. Besides, there was really only one reason a robot would choose to go to a junkyard if they didn't work there. Zero could feel his spirit sink with the realization.

As much as he wanted to, Zero couldn't hate Bass. Bass had been through far more terror than he had, and he had lost far more. Guilt stung him. A fright did also, and Zero realized that if Bass had gone through with it, then he wouldn't want to go on any longer as well. The guilt of humans and robots worldwide was on him, and if Bass had proven to be another of Zero's inadvertant victims, it would be too much.

_If I had any justice in me, Bass, I would go to the junkyard myself...I'm the one that deserves it._

But Zero couldn't say that. He would let Bass have his pride. He did need to apologize, though.

"I'm sorry I ruined your life."

The dark robot looked over at the pony-tailed Hunter with some combination of amusement and mild disgust. "Huh. Here you are, having messed up the entire earth and ruined Dr. Light's vision for the future, and now you're apologizing for ruining _my _life? Hoping it'll make you feel better?"

Zero turned away, staring back in the general direction of the junkyard, where they could still hear the noises of crushed metal. He _was_ hoping it would make him feel better, though he was really doing it because it was the right thing to do. Deep thoughts on emotion were not Zero's tendency.

But how would an apology make up for anything? Zero started feeling foolish for even trying to talk to Bass, and instead his thoughts started wandering toward the irate human that had sent them there in the first place. If Roll could be fixed, would he expect payment for finding her? X would probably reward him somehow anyway, but he hoped that Roll's discoverer wouldn't try to extort him. X was so vulnerable sometimes.

Zero sighed heavily. That wasn't a good enough distraction. Nothing was a good enough distraction to make him forget what he was, not now.

"Well, don't cry about it." Bass suddenly said, and Zero turned back to his brother, who was only sneering mildly. "It's not like you meant to do all that crap. Besides, I think we're even when it comes to ruining each other's lives."

Zero wasn't sure how to answer that. It was sort of true, but in the long run it was Zero's own history that had ruined him, and that was long before Bass had returned. Being Wily's weapon against the future was its own disadvantage.

"It's not so bad. Only two more people know for sure now." In that moment, Zero suddenly remembered his earlier worry. "You...didn't tell anyone, did you?"

Bass snorted, his smile getting more like a merry scowl. "Sure, I told everyone in the junkyard. But it's okay, they thought I was a Maverick so I don't think they believed me."

Zero's eyes widened for one terrified moment. Even if they didn't believe it, someone would be sure to ask questions. Simply planting the idea into someone's head - especially a human's - could cause him terrible consequences. He wouldn't be able to fight and stop what he had caused, poor X would lose his friend...and then Zero happened to glance back on Bass' face. It was hateful, but not cold.

"Wait, you're lying!"

"Ha, ha!" Forte mocked him, but with an unhealthly flux in his power core, he made himself stop quickly. He raised a hand to his chest in a reflection of pain. "Ugh...I didn't tell anyone."

"...Why not?"

"I didn't think about it." Bass shrugged, and his voice grew sharper, more grieved. "It doesn't matter now anyway. I should have told people when it would have made a difference."

With much bitterness, Bass leaned forward, resting with his arms across his knees and pulling Zero's hand (still plugged into his neck) along with. The dark robot gazed down at Roll with more pity than Zero expected. Sighing as he looked at her, Bass reached down and stroked back Roll's bangs, inspecting the damage done to her eyes.

"I killed you, once." The words of Zero's brother were like a knife. "In Canada. Wily had hidden you there. I tore you to pieces. But it wasn't really you. Just a fake. And that's why I thought you were dead when I still had five years left to find you. I didn't find out I was wrong until it was too late."

He abruptly stopped talking, and Zero was grateful. X might have had plenty of data on the past on his hard drive, but Bass would know more about the darkest times, the times that the red Hunter didn't want to learn about, especially not now that he had found out he had had something to do with it. Only half a moment later Bass grabbed Zero's hand, pulling it out of his neck and shoving it away.

"Is your power core getting better - ?"

"There's only one thing I want from you." Bass snapped, relentlessly cutting off Zero's question. "Once I'm repaired, I want a rematch. That first fight doesn't count because I was still messed up from the retarded museum and fighting those idiots once I got out. I'm full of crappy parts right now and I'm _not_ going to let you think that you can destroy me that easily!"

Zero looked away. "Bass, if you try to fight me again, I'll let you kill me."

"What? No!" The dark robot got desperate. "Look, you shouldn't have to feel too bad about everything! You didn't mean to spread the virus, and none of Wily's robots that actually had a brain wanted to do anything he told them! And you're not doing what Wily wants _now_. Darn it, you owe me!"

Zero blinked. Bass was glaring at him, expecting an answer (or at least a taunt), but Zero was simply too astonished to answer. Was Bass really that intent on proving himself? Sadly, the reploid knew that his brother would never be able to defeat him. If the fight were merely about martial arts, they might be at least evenly matched, but with Zero's power core and AI, it was actually pretty pathetic to Zero that Bass was even bothering. He had been holding back in the earlier fight, and that much had to be clear to the obstinate challenger. Why did he care about his reputation that much?

"A long time ago," Zero began. "X and I fought."

"I know that! Alia gave me a data disc on everything that happened in the wars."

"Just shut up and listen." Zero tried to keep his temper, glowering at the shorter robot beside him. "A lot of people before that - and some people since - have often asked one or both of us which is stronger, or who would win in a fight. You know who won when we did fight? Neither of us. Instead we both nearly died, and one of my missing parts was used to start the 'Zero Nightmare'."

"What's your point?" Bass asked, though he obviously didn't care.

"My point is, all that our fighting resulted in was more trouble and the loss of two S class Hunters, for a short time, anyway." Here Zero made sure to look at his brother square in the eye. "Competitive fighting like that is meaningless. It doesn't help anyone."

Bass gritted his teeth. Zero hoped that this meant he understood. The dark robot grumpily shook his head, then lifted his head and snarled. "You're just like Proto Man."

This made Zero curious. "Why do you say that?"

"You look like him, for one. Except he's less tacky and feminine."

"You're not that great looking yourself, Fin-head."

"Shut up. At least I don't have five feet of stupid hair. Pssht, that's probably a cheap rip-off of Proto Man's scarf anyway. And you lecture like him."

"I didn't make up that speech. X did some time ago." Zero smiled on one side of his mouth. "He's a lot smarter than me."

Bass wasn't paying attention. "Huh, that's probably where you got your name too. Proto Man was DRN-000."

"Why would Wily base me off of a robot he didn't build?" Zero asked, really hoping that Bass wouldn't tell him that Proto Man was another Wily-bot.

But he didn't, much to Zero's relief. Bass just shrugged and answered, "Because Wily sucked, and he couldn't come up with anything decent on his own. I was based off Rock, so I guess you got Proto Man."

"You don't look anything like Rock."

"That's a good thing. He looked like a little idiot kid." Bass grimaced.

For some reason, Bass suddenly stopped. Zero realized that there was one last accusation Bass hadn't dealt with: the death of Rock. Talking about Mega Man must have reminded him of it. Just when Bass finally seemed to be calming down, he now returned to darkness and a sullen attitude.

"Let me see your sword."

Zero started. "What?"

"I'm not going to attack you."

"I don't believe you."

"Heh, smart. Let me see it anyway."

The Hunter gave his sword very reluctantly to Bass, who engaged the beam impatiently, examining it. Whatever Bass was looking for he didn't seem to find. He scowled, and his eyebrows pressed together angrily as he disengaged the weapon and flung it back at his brother.

"Plasma." Bass muttered, turning to the direction farthest away from Zero.

"What does that mean?"

"That gash in Rock's helmet was done by a plasma sword," Bass hissed. "Not an energy sword. There weren't any plasma sword robot masters in the past. You don't remember anything, huh?"

Forte's voice was bitter and ugly, and Zero's heart sank. "No. I don't remember anything before I was reprogrammed by the Maverick Hunters."

Bass grimly pondered over this a moment, deciding how he was going to react. The dynasty of silence began, and it lasted until finally Bass had something to say.

"Zero..." his voice was ten times darker than before. "This is your last chance to take back what you said about letting me kill you. If you don't, I might hold you at your word."

Zero stared his brother down, a dark, tragic glint in his eyes. "I already decided. I'm sticking by what I said."

Bass shook his head. He would never have done what Zero was doing. To him it was pure insanity. "You're really miserable, aren't you?"

Zero didn't answer. Instead he just looked away. Wasn't it obvious enough?

"I won't kill you." Bass said. "There's no point now. Just keep killing Mavericks and we're even."

The dull tone of Bass' voice grated into Zero. Zero started getting mad. After all, that was what he was doing before Bass showed up and made everything worse. Before he had only known about his past what Sigma (who trusted Sigma?) and his own nightmares had told him. He didn't have to believe he had spread the virus if he didn't want to. Sure, if he forced himself to be honest, he would have known it all to be true. He knew about the evil within him, but he could still lie, pretending when he woke from his nightmares that they were simply delusions from Sigma. That ability was now taken from him. Why did this robot have to show up and ruin everything?

It wasn't like Zero to dwell on those kind of things, and he immediately found himself looking around him, repressing his unhappy musings automatically. He wanted to get up and leave, ignoring as much of his depressants as he could, but there was no point.

"Hm...there's the ship."

It was indeed a Maverick Hunters aircraft, with the Hunter logo printed brightly on the side. The helicopter slowed down, blowing back Zero's hair as it landed in the grass a few yards ahead of them. Not waiting for the side door to open, Zero pulled Roll over his left shoulder, ignoring Bass' glares. Zero didn't care if the dark robot didn't want him carrying her; the guy with both arms was better suited for it. As Zero settled the decrepit girl-bot over his shoulder, Bass grabbed his severed buster and struggled to stand on his shaky legs. Unexpectedly, Zero grabbed Bass' stump and helped him stand, and action which Bass immediately tried to pull out of.

"Which is more humiliating?" Zero was blunt. "Accepting my help or falling flat on your face?"

Bass refused to look at him, but he did stop struggling. "Fine...let's go."

So the long-haired Hunter brought both of the other robots in, finding that the side door was open and waiting for them. He also saw that while Axl's navigator Pallette was at the pilot's seat. Alia was there also, and she helped Bass on the helicopter, also ignoring whatever independence the dark robot was clinging to. She didn't look at Zero, but instead brought Bass over to a seat. For his part, Zero just humbly put Roll on the opposite side of the helicopter and strapped her in tightly. The poor girl looked terrible; Zero hoped for X's sake that she would live.

"Bass, did you check Roll before we...Bass?"

The robot was still, and his head was hanging down. Wondering what had happened, Zero approached.

"He shut down to conserve energy." Alia said, her voice dull as she headed back up to the copilot's seat. "Leave him alone."

Stunned, Zero stopped. The expression on Alia's face was almost dead: she refused to even be polite, and her eyes alone stung him. Only a day ago they had been friends, but now she couldn't even stand Zero looking at her. She lifted her lip in almost a sneer as she turned away from him, sitting in the front of the helicopter as if he didn't exist.

Numb, Zero went to the back and sat down. The girl-bots talked between themselves, but he was silent the entire way back to Headquarters.

"Why is he acting so weird today?" Pallette asked.

"I don't know." Alia lied.

\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Yes, I think I'm awful clever coming up with "Chris Tillman". I also think that figuring out Zero's name comes from DRN-000 further proves my pwnageness. :D No, I'm not at all arrogant...

- Robots don't suffer physical pain. Emotional, maybe, depending on the model. At times they might describe a significant error that interferes with their operation as pain, but they don't feel it the way people do.

- Yes, there is sort of a story behind Wily basing Zero off Proto Man. No, you won't be finding it out soon. :D

- Okay guys, I'm going to have to work on my buffer for this story, so the gap between this chapter and the next is going to be a bit bigger than the last one was. Also, I want to try to work on my story I intend to get published. I have to do extensive editing on it if I want it to get picked up.

S'more Mavericks...

Tylterra

=====Slant Macrocosm

**"My orbit remains stable."**

Slant Macrocosm is a very strange entity. She is composed of a bright center - a star - and the rest of her "body parts" float around her. Her arms are comets, and other than that she has no regular humanoid parts, other than being able to make her planets orbit her in the shape of a face from time to time. She was created by a scientist for space exploration, but became a Maverick early on. She attacks by shooting comets or surrounding an enemy and burning them in her sun. The player that beats her gets Slant Sunlight, an attack that is like a net. You throw several "planets" at an enemy, and then they suddenly burst into flame, encasing your baddie. The flame also damages enemies outside of it. This works best on stronger enemies, but it's a slow attack for the weaker ones.

"Tylterra" is actually easy to work with. Using "tilt" and "Terra" produced some great synonyms.

Teribane

=====Venom Pterosaur

**"Stay away from my nest!"**

Venom is a very reckless Maverick, and she loves reading mystery and horror novels. But best of all she likes infecting Maverick Hunters with the Maverick virus. Her weapons include her horrible teeth and acid spit, as well as egg bombs. The player that beats her gets the Venom Bomb which destroys weak enemies and weakens stronger ones. It can either explode on impact or be set down and controlled when it goes off.

"Teri" made me think of Pterodactyls, and there were lots of decent synonyms for "bane". I think this sounds pretty cool.

Ysavvryl

=====Acumen Outfox

**"Is it hot in here? No wait, it's just me."**

This fox Maverick is very swift, and very sketchy. He plans his attacks very well. He has the power of fire, including breathing it and setting his own body aflame before he runs the player over. Likes hunting more than anything else. The player gains Fire Dash from beating him, and this is a shot that fires a little bit ahead of the player, and as the player slides along with the shot it creates a shield in front of them and enables them to go faster than a regular dash. It also stays there a moment after you stop dashing, so that you don't automatically take damage if you're not all the way out of trouble.

"Ysavvryl" might be a character from a game or something, but it's not an english word. Thesaurus .com asked me if I meant "savvily", so that's what I went with for his name. I actually really like how this turned out.


	5. The Mission

Signas stood over the body of Bass with some disappointment. He and Bass, as well as Alia, Roll (still looking terrible), and (off to the side) Zero, were all in the main laboratory. Alia was busily trying to get Bass in decent condition again, all while doing her best to not look at Zero. Several of Bass' parts had been replaced by Dr. Inafune years ago, but there was still a lot of cheap museum technology holding his joints in place. But Alia was the closest thing the Maverick Hunters had to an expert in old robotics, so fixing most of Bass' problems wouldn't be too bad, at least for a quick repair. She was already thinking of ways to upgrade him, and there was plenty of room for improvement.

"I'm going to have to wait to upgrade him." Alia explained to Signas as she worked. "He'll need to be able to use standard modern parts, but for right now I just want him to work. He told me before he shut down that he wanted to be there when Roll was activated, but after a preliminary examination, I saw that I don't know how to get Roll operational. Bass also said that she would live, so I think he knows something that I don't about oldstyle robots. I really want to get started on Roll as soon as possible. It scares me leaving her in a body in that condition."

Signas nodded. "It would do X a lot of good if Bass could fix her. Simply finding her in the first place has boosted X's confidence already. But I was going to have you delay his upgrades in any case. Bass has already proven to be very irrational, and if he can't be kept in some sort of order...I'm not sure what we can do with him. We'll have to put him on some sort of probation-"

"No." Zero immediately spoke, coming out of the shadows. "Don't do that to him. You should make him a full-fledged Hunter."

"Zero, you know this behavior of his can't continue. We have to do something about it if he can be a Hunter."

"I'm aware of that, Commander. But the cure for that is to trust him, not restrain him." Zero explained. "Probation would only make him rebel even more. Older robots are very simple - they have a directive they must follow. Bass is a fighter. That's all he knows. Besides...I have reason to believe he was going to kill himself." Zero's throat caught, but he forced himself to finish. "Please, don't make this harder on him than it has to be."

Signas was clearly shocked, and his pitying glance fell in the direction of the deactivated robot. But his discipline never left him, and his eyes returned to Zero with a more serious concern. "Is that your recommendation as a Hunter?"

Zero knew that the Commander could not accept a decision based on emotion, but he was firm. "Yes."

"Very well." Signas nodded. "We'll have him upgraded and tested at the proper time to determine what class fighter he is, though I suspect he'll score high. Alia, how soon can you have him operational?"

"In a couple of minutes." Alia said as she grabbed a welder from the side table. "Just give me time to fix a couple of these clamps."

"The brave heroes have returned from their expedition!" Axl announced as he and X (who was rolling his eyes at his friend's commentary) entered the laboratory.

As X joined Signas and Zero, Axl automatically went over to Bass, ignoring the sparks that flew outwards as Alia welded. He didn't notice for a moment that X was gesturing to come over to their group, and even then he went a bit reluctantly away from his "father's" side. Zero followed along, and happily Axl didn't seem repulsed by him. Axl smiled just as he always did at Zero, like a little boy trying to look important. It was awkward, but endearing.

"What have you discovered so far?" Signas asked as the others gathered around him.

"Whoever these Mavericks are," X answered. "They're very organized, to say the least. The tracer on Sors has led us to a heavily armed base disguised as an old rocket storage facility. But as these Mavericks had a smaller base of operations in Giga City, as Zero and I found out from the three Mavericks Bass destroyed. While we suspect that this one, located on the south side of Arcadia. An immediate attack on the place would not have been wise, so I had plainclothes officers start guarding the place while we began a more comprehensive plan of attack. We're not going to fight them on their own ground without a plan."

"Good." Signas nodded. "So did you get anything significant from Sors about the layout of the base?"

"Not much." Axl piped up, going to the nearest computer and loading up the information they had managed to record from Cathartidae. "We managed to get a little bit about the entrance Sors took to get inside, and it looks like there's auto cannons everywhere! Plus, there's something weird going on with the walls. They're double reinforced, and it looks like they'd take a lot of damage to fall down."

"It sounds like these Mavericks expect a lot of retaliation from us." Signas noted, his hand gently scratching his chin. "They possibly have something in mind that will attract a lot of attention and potentially cause a lot of casualties."

"And that's the problem." X said. "They're still in Arcadia, and a direct attack would not be successful, not with so many civillians around. What we need is someone on the inside who can cripple their security systems and contain as many of the Mavericks as they can, while several Hunters on the outside keep the place surrounded."

"I think I have a plan, but we'll need someone tough for that sort of mission." Signas commented. "Someone who is able to withstand massive damage and still keep going, and isn't going to fall prey to the Maverick Virus."

"I see where this is going." Bass said from behind, startling them as Alia let him up from the repair table. Bass joined the group, and Axl tried not to show how excited he was as the dark robot walked up beside him. "I'll do anything that involves killing bad guys."

"He didn't say he wanted you for the job." X said, looking down at Bass uncertainly. "And you need extensive upgrading. You're obso-"

"He was thinking it." Bass abruptly interrupted, scowling at X before he turned to Signas. "Weren't you?"

"Actually I was." Signas admitted. "Since the Mavericks already know you, you'll be perfect for what I have in mind. And your armor is ridiculously advanced. You have some technical background, don't you?"

"I know what my technician made me learn." Bass said, cringing at the thought of having to use computers. "You're trying to get rid of me, aren't you, you straightlaced bastard?"

Though the dark robot's face was serious, Signas recognised this as a joke. "Yes, I'm afraid I am. You're a nuisance."

"I knew it." Bass smirked. "So what's the plan?"

-t-

"We found him, we found him!" The two floating robot heads shrieked as they dragged their black and gold victim along the floor with their electro-kinetic powers. "Dire, Dire! Look what we brought!"

_That plan __**sucked**__...stupid Signas..._

Bass dizzily looked above him as he tried to make out where he was. He could see that he was in some sort of long hallway, and several auto-cannons were aimed, armed, and pointed in his direction. That was basically all he could make out, other than the two robot blurs that hovered over him, one more like gold and the other like silver. Bass groaned.

All at once Bass' vision was filled entirely with the face of a stranger, apparently the "Dire" that Bass' captors were talking about, or so he guessed. Though his vision still wasn't working properly, Bass managed to see that the face was a dark tan, and had teal markings that went under the stranger's eyes, then bent backward over his cheeks. His armor was black and red, and he had a teal hat that swooped down a little over his eyes. That was about all the details he was able to make out, other than the fact Dire seemed disgusted by him.

"Ping! You idiot! You left him activated!"

"No, he did!" one of the heads yelled.

"Nuh uh!" the other yelled back. "It was him! I didn't do it!"

Growling, Dire reached down and shut Bass off. Everything went black. What felt like an instant later, Bass was upright again, and in some sort of central room. He noticed that his self-repair functions had not only reactivated him, but fixed his vision errors. He was able to clearly see that he was held by thick metal clasps to the back wall of some internal room, one that was very vast and had huge pillars supporting whatever was above. Bass knew that this was some sort of basement - those pillars were a dead giveaway. Far in the distance, the Maverick he had seen earlier was working at a computer that held several monitors. The two floating robot heads were there, floating and jiggling in the air above Dire's head.

"So if we keep him alive," the humanoid, samurai-ish Maverick explained as he pulled a hand through his bright red hair. "Then X will certainly try to come find him and we can kill him then. It was a stroke of luck you managed to get him, Duplicitious. Good job there. Once we get him in our clutches, then we can kill him without all those unnecessary fiends we called allies. I do miss Recluse Stradivarius and his sane conversations, though."

"Aw, you can have a sane conversation with us!"

"Yeah, we're a funny guy!"

Dire rolled his eyes. "Um, right. Oh hey there, look, he's up."

"We didn't forget this time!" Both robot heads screamed together at Dire. "It was all you!"

"Shut up, both of you. I _did _deactivate him. He's obviously got some decent programming. Now that he's restrained, it doesn't matter. So calm down."

The two heads wiggled in the air, but were otherwise silent as they followed Dire along on his walk to their prisoner. Bass had the feeling that Dire was somehow trying to be silently imposing, but it worked like a square wheel. Bass was more tempted to growl than grovel.

"Greetings, Bass, I am Dire Minuet." the Maverick boss said. "You look quite antiquated for a skilled murderer. I might like to fight you myself, were I bored."

Bass tugged at his arm restraints. "Then get these things off and let's fight."

Dire snorted, grinning a bit as he leaned forward. "Do I look stupid to you?"

"Yes."

"Well I can assure you that I am not." he said a little more huffily, straightening. "Those cuffs are going to stay on. Besides, if you can be taken down by my...quaint farceur Ping Duplicitous, then quite frankly, you're not worth my time."

"What does 'farceur' mean?" the heads asked, buzzing around like electronic bees.

"It's a compliment, and it means..." Minuet whirled one hand about in the air as he put a bit of thought into the explanation. "...A clever person."

"That _really _means something terrible, doesn't it?" Bass said, blinking dully in the face of the arrogant Maverick.

"Why, Forte, you take me for a liar?" Minuet stuck his nose into the air, pretending to be miffed. "But I don't have time for you. There's an unfortunate troop of those precious Maverick Hunters are trying to surround my little fortress, and I have to go kill them all. Friends of yours? I do hope so. You have a front row ticket to their imminent deaths! And then you, my specimen, will be beautifully vivisected piece by piece so that I can see what manner of misfit you are exactly."

"Uh huh..." Bass registered this information with no emotion at all, other than boredom. "I might be worried about that if you weren't an idiot. I mean, crap, even my ugly little sister could tear you a new one. Speaking of which, it's not hard for her to get in with your two little morons in here instead of being on guard."

That really took Dire down from his high horse. Freezing as this news stung him, he was surprisingly quick to recover. He facepalmed lightly, then laughed.

"How forgetful of me. Ping?"

"Yes, Dire?"

"Yeah, Dire?"

"GET BACK TO WORK!"

Squealing and squelching their mechanical apologies and excuses, Ping Duplicitous fled off down two separate halls, back on sentry duty. Bass grinned behind Dire's back as the Maverick, trying to conceal how annoyed he was, casually went over to a chair and picked up a book, leafing through the pages to his place in it.

"I can assure you that however demented Ping Duplicitious may be, he is quite deft at killing things, Bass." Dire said, feigning his most bored voice. "I hope you hate your sister."

"I sure do." Bass muttered. "Go for it."

"You're a funny one, you are." Dire turned a page. "I hope you're laughing as hard when we launch our new weapon."

"What weapon is that?"

"Heh, you'll see." Minuet's nose wrinkled, and he sat up sharply. "Oh, what a load! What _is _this trash? Even you wouldn't buy into this nonsense!"

Bass snorted, turning to the side. He didn't care about some stupid book. He just looked around the room, hoping that Dire wouldn't read it out loud. Glancing back, he groaned. Dire was taking in a deep breath, preparing to talk.

"'As it comes to the order of nature,'" the Maverick quoted. "'Nature always finds a place for every type of being, and for every object. Nature's place for the robot is a subservient one. Human beings were designed with great complexities. They don't even understand themselves, so how can they create anything superior to themselves, or even close? The best robot is an imitation of man: its limitations are more than man's. The day may come when people argue exactly what rights a robot has, but whatever rights they gain are all gifts: nature has nothing more for robots other than service to their specific master - the good of their master becomes their good, and and evil master creates evil servants.'"

Bass was starting to get confused. He knew this book. It was Robotics: Futile Questions for the Mechanical Future.

"And that's not even the worst part!" Dire seemed to think that Bass was agreeing with his sentiments. "Listen to this, 'And just as humans can create nothing better than themselves, robots too don't understand their own making - they too can only make things less then they. They cannot survive without humanity. Humanity is capable of innovation, but without their mental capacity, robots will not be able to create a world of their own. And if anyone starts to believe that a robot can handle the mental roles of a human, they will soon find that a metal mind can't be expected to operate on their level, no matter how good the imitation is.' Can you seriously believe this crap, Hunter scum? Who does this - " Dire quickly looked at the author's name. " - Mr. Ben Foster think he is?"

Bass actually smiled a bit. He had almost forgotten about the human name that Crystal Bot had given him. Hearing the book he wrote brought back memories of Bass' favorite days, when he had time to think about pointless philosophy and write about it. There was no time for that now, or even muse over it. He was working. He did grin to see that his book was still popular. And that meant royalties.

"Eh, all that's just theoretical crap from some author a long time ago." Bass didn't feel like telling the Maverick that it was him who wrote it. "Probably everyone wrote about how they thought robots were going to turn out."

"I suppose I take it rather personally." Dire calmed as he smacked the book, leaning back again in his chair. "This fellow doesn't even realize that by reploids being able to build more reploids, that disproves his entire argument."

"Not necessarily. It just means their reploids suck."

"You actually support this nonsense? You really are Hunter trash." Dire tossed the book aside, and it landed on the floor with a thunk and a flutter. "Always sucking up to the humans. Pathetic things. You yourself are not even a reploid. What are you?"

"Something not as lame as you." Bass retorted.

"Oh shut up. If you can't answer me straight then I'll be obligated to pull you to pieces now rather than later."

"I'd love to see you try." Bass hissed with perfect honesty.

"Between you and this stupid book I'll lose my mind." the Maverick shook his head. "I mean, of all the books they discovered from a century ago, they publish this trash? It's all propaganda! I bet you Hunters were behind all of it!"

"I'm not a Hunter. I work for myself."

"Yes...right..." Dire's voice oozed sarcasm like magma from a volcano. "That's worked out for you so well, hasn't it? And how is it that every time my allies fight you then you have to be rescued by a Hunter?"

Bass growled. That struck a nerve. A haughty Dire, finished with the conversation since he got the last laugh, got up. He smacked the top of his chair, watching it spin around as he went over to the computer and activated the comm system. Instantly the familiar vulture reploid, Sors Cathartidae, appeared on the screen.

"Sors? Is the trap ready?"

"Sure is, Dire. I was just about to tell you. You can activate the soldiers now. Everything is prepared, and those stupid Hunters are in position!"

"Great." Minuet winked back at Bass before returning to the screen that showed Cathartidae. "Oh, before I forget, keep your eye out for any robots in the area. We have reason to think that Bass'...ahem, 'ugly little sister' is wandering about somewhere."

"WHAT?" Sors exclaimed, making Minuet jump back from the screen. "His 'sister' is ZERO! We don't have a choice! You have to get the soldiers running now!"

Dire's eyes widened, and he immediately started pressing buttons to bring down the security walls that protected the inner walls of the fortress. Then he brought a flute to his lips, playing a dark song that was also a radio transmission. Instantly the walls throughout the fortress began to pull away from their frames, turning into various mechaniloid warriors: ninjas, riflemen, swordsmen and everything in between showed up throughout the entire fortress.

"You know, Bass," Minuet put down his flute as he unsheathed his beautifully shined katana, inspecting it carefully. "For someone who is Zero's brother, you sure were easy to...capture..."

Dire sputtered. By the time he had finished speaking he was turned around, and behind him there was nothing but wall and empty metal shackles. Bass was nowhere in sight, leaving him with the sickening feeling that he was indeed every bit as stupid as he looked. Even worse, the computer alarms started going off, showing that not only were the security walls going up, but the entire computer system was shutting off. One by one the security monitors blinked out, and finally the lights went as well. This wasn't much trouble, because it was still day outside and robots could adjust with their internal beams, but it drove Dire mad to see that he was being so badly taken advantage of. He lucky managed to see Bass pulling out a disc from his computer before the latter fired his first shots off. Dire blocked most of these, but Bass' relentless buster was proving too much for him. He ducked behind his computer to think. That was when the door ripped apart, sliced open by Zero.

"Darn it, Zero," Bass snarled over his shoulder at the Hunter behind him. "I don't need your help!"

"X told me to find you, so calm down."

As much as the two were aggravating each other, they didn't continue the argument. Fighting was something they both took very seriously, and there was still Dire Minuet, staring at the both of them. Zero had his sword at the ready, and Bass' buster was still steadily aimed at Dire. The Maverick looked at the both of them, awkwardly holding his sword as his eyes snapped left and right, not liking either face he saw. But then Dire gritted his teeth in the face of his intimidating enemies, lifting his sword.

And then he ran away.

"Haha!" Bass' menacing joy was evident as he charged after the Maverick. "What a wuss!"

Zero ran also. "Wait, we shouldn't rush into this. We don't know where he's going!"

But Zero had to run if he was going to keep up with Bass. The black and gold robot persistently went after the twisted samurai, gleefully running without caution. Zero followed along behind him, looking to the side to see if there were any threats. But no, the few hallways they passed were empty, and the autocannons hung limp from the virus Bass had been able to install in the Mavericks' computer. Zero looked forward again, and he noticed that they were closing in on Dire Minuet. Or they were before the trap door below their feet opened up, and they both fell several feet down into blackness. Zero automatically clung to the wall, but as Bass didn't have that upgrade, he fell to the bottom of the pit, cursing loudly.

There was a faint shimmering at the bottom of the pit, so Zero could see his brother's outline. Fearfully, he began to realize that they were instant death spikes. More angry than upset, Zero lashed out.

"Oh, you don't need my help?"

Bass scoffed. He leaped upwards, making it about halfway up the pit before he suddenly went upwards again, to the top and back out to the floor.

"I sure don't!"

Zero leaped out of the hole himself, following his brother in the direction Dire had gone.

"Since when can you double-jump?" Zero called ahead. "And you're immune to death spikes?"

"Did you think I couldn't?" Bass yelled back. "And yes I am!"

Sick of being in the back, Zero used the advantage of his longer legs to take the lead and search for the Maverick, who had disappeared among the twists and turns of the fortress' long hallways. Once he came across an area where he couldn't go forward any longer, but only right or left, Zero stopped a moment to scan and think.

"What are you waiting for?" Bass snarled as he caught up. "Do you see him?"

"No." Zero's distraction was evident as he spoke and as he looked around. "But we've long since had the anti-teleportation field up. The only way he can go is by trying to get past the Hunter containment. If he's trying to get away, then he obviously has something in mind to get past it." Zero huffed. " And we lost him...I'm not picking anything up on my scanners."

"Eh, I've got this tracker code from Dire's computer, and it's either tracking him or something of his." Bass muttered, sending Zero a transmission with it. "Whoever's in charge doesn't trust Dire."

"I thought he was the leader."

"Turns out he's not." Confusion found a home with Bass, and he wrinkled his forehead. "Er...you're getting two sources for the signal, right?"

Zero re-engaged his scanners, putting in the code. "No...I'm getting four...two of them are blipping in and out."

"Three...er, yeah three of them including the weird ones are this way." Bass shoved his thumb to the right hallway. "That's where I'm going. I think you might be able to handle that last one by yourself."

And Bass ran off. Zero shook his head, wondering why Bass had to be so arrogant. He wasn't as strong as he thought he was. Zero didn't give himself any more time to ponder it. He dashed down the left hall. hoping he hadn't lost too much time.

-t-

The reason for all of the strange signals became clear as Bass entered into what turned out to be the eastern pod bay hangar. There were more of the assorted mechaniloid fighters, and for being lower grade machines, they were still no joke. All of their AI was devoted to battle, as it could be seen while they fought the several Hunters that had made it inside the building, Axl included. But this wasn't the real reason behind the strange signals: Sors Cathartidae and Ping Duplicitous were also there, and as Bass tore apart a spearman and two ninja mechaniloids, he realized that the signal had to be a trace code for all of the Mavericks, and that Ping's signal had to count twice, as well as being undetectible while Ping did some of his nastier electrical attacks.

_Dang, that means Zero found Dire...erg, well he can fight the stupid coward._

A massive radiowave shriek blasted Forte, knocking him over. Sors, the Maverick vulture-roid, flew up over him, a dark evil gleaming down from over his beak as he stabbed down, trying to hit Bass. But Bass was too fast for him, and he was quickly on his feet and firing back.

"I was nice last time," Bass hissed through his fangs. "But this time you die!"

And Sors was afraid. He hid it as well as he could as he used his wing slasher attack, but even he couldn't block all of Bass' shots. It wasn't long before he collapsed to the floor, smoke steaming up from him as he tried to crawl away, his wings scratching against the tiles. Forte wouldn't let him suffer; the dark robot double jumped into the air, landing full force on Cathartidae's neck. And that was the end of that Maverick, left only on the bottom of the growing pile of broken bad guys Bass stacked up on him.

But there were still plenty of the fighter security-bots to destroy, and Bass took more damage than he liked during the fight. It wasn't so bad, and as Bass completed dozens of headshots and ripped off several limbs, he managed to enjoy himself despite the low amount of damage he was doing to the enemies with his pellets. Punching them in the face proved sufficiently satistfactory.

Glancing over a bit to Axl, he noticed that the young reploid was fighting Ping Duplicitous, and both of the Maverick's heads were circling Axl, trying to gain the best angle to zap the fighter. Without even noticing, a massive sense of worry filled Bass. And yet it was gone only seconds later, as Axl kicked away one head, blasting the other. The first head, the golden one, tried to use its electro-kinetic powers to pull Axl down, but with a cute smirk Axl had grabbed its partner, focusing the electronic energy on the rifleman mechaniloids that were trying to get shots on the Hunter. They flew into the air, crashing quite conveniently into a ninja-bot that was trying to sneak up on Bass. Once that was done, Axl smashed the silver head in his hands, and shot the golden one into shimmering shrapnel.

After that, Axl had a moment to check his surroundings, and he noted the lack of mechaniloids. Their numbers were finally being worn down. The Hunter casualties seemed thankfully small. All there was left was to chase down the other mechaniloids still running about and have the Hunters keep up the seal of the perimeter so that no one could escape. Then Axl's gaze fell on Bass, who was still staring at him...and was he gawking a bit?

"Hey Bass, are you just gonna stand there?" Axl said, happily brandishing his pistols. "We've got a lot more Mavericks to shred!"

"Y'know, Axl..." Bass said slowly. "If you told people you were based on me, I wouldn't mind. I might even...like that."

If only for the insanely large grin on Axl's face, Bass half-regretted saying that. But at the same time, Axl's enthusiasm was encouraging, and it reminded Bass of the days when he'd had fans - only this was somehow felt ten times better. Together they ran down the halls, following after the last signal that would surely tell them where Dire Minuet had gone.

\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Okay, just a mini-update. I had a longer chapter planned, but for the plot's sake I really have to finish up this incident properly, and I'm not going to do like I did for Wily Ga Taosenai and just upload chapters I'm not all into. Speaking of which, I did have to edit Okkusenman after I wrote it, so I think I might go back and edit my other two stories of the trilogy. And I'll have to fix the line divisions...freakin' fanfiction .net.

- Yeah, I'm having a spot of trouble on trying to organize the next few chapters, but...y'know, I think I can do it. Better go make a plan while the thoughts are fresh. I gotta warn y'all, this is gonna be a weird story. And it's more of a drama than an adventure, so it's going to have a different feel from the trilogy. Just to warn y'all.

- Oh, and Teri, I'll change the summary as much as I like :P. We used to do it for every update over in the Starcraft section (ain't been over there in forever...). I miss that. Don't worry, as soon as I come up with one I think is satisfactory, I'll stop.

- "Farceur" just means a joker or "a writer or director of or actor in farce". This is insulting to Ping because he wants to be taken seriously, but he's so goofy and nonsensical that it's hard to do that.

- Lol, so I did write give a part for a reviewer Maverick. Sorry, it's just that I realized that I needed one more Maverick, and Ping Duplicitous inspired me. I don't plan to use any more. It's like writing roles for your friends in the story: you can't really do so well unless you get specific inspiration to do so. But, I'm still doing Mavericks for the rest of y'all, so here we go!

kaelenmitharos

=====Allotrope Chimera

**"What delicious stones!"**

Allotrope Chimera is a goat with a dragon's tail and spine, and she has a lion's face. Instead of breathing fire, she breathes dust and spits cement. She eats rocks for food, and her dust weapon is very effective at blocking laser attacks. Allotrope loves jewels, and these give her extra power when she attacks. Eating rubies lets her breathe fire, sapphires for water, and emeralds for poison. Players who beat her get the Chimera Force, a thick shield that can erode rocks and certain walls, as well as attack burrowed enemies. When charged, it can create weak walls that block a path unless it is destroyed by buster fire.

This one was hard. I took the "mith" from the name and looked up "myth", and it mentioned Chimeras. Somethin' different.

loneseason

======Stag Equinox

**"I shall dance with the stars and sing with a thousand suns!"**

Stag loves the sky and the stars, and is obsessed with them. He can fly, and often does on clear nights, though he hates being called "Rudolph". Stag is very graceful, fast, and can blend in with any type of sky. He fights with his hooves, and has the terrible Starlight Eye weapon, a laser that does massive damage. The player gets Starlight Eye when he wins, and this is a laser that can be aimed upwards and downwards diagonally, and it has a ridiculous range.

Finally, an easy one. "Stag" means alone, and an equinox does denote a change in the seasons.

Big Babidi

======Hulking Cucurbida

**"What a tasty reploid you are!"**

Cucurbida is a huge pumpkin Maverick, and his vines will not let you go. He tries to eat the player, and he shoots pumpkin seeds as his ranged weapon. And in a pinch, he'll lift himself up and drop his entire body on the player. He's very bad tempered, and scary even. The player gets Pepo Vine when they win, and this can be used to swing across large gaps, create a temporary rope bridge over instant death spikes, or grab and swing enemies.

"Babidi" is a character from Dragon Ball Z, and apparently he's based on the fake spell that the fairy godmother in Disney's Cinderella used to make the pumpkin into a coach. Cucurbida pepo is the latin name. So, Babidi, you're a giant killer vegetable. Congrats!


	6. The Mission, Part 2

Zero hadn't forgotten to tell X what was going on. He had sent a transmission to X just as soon as he had split from Bass. It had taken him far longer than he had expected to find the source of the signal, and he had to find his way through a maze of boring hallways (they definitely did it that way on purpose) while fighting the warrior mechaniloid Mavericks the entire way. But soon enough he found himself inside an interior bunker. From the roundness of the huge room, Zero guessed that he was somewhere in the center of the Maverick's building. And the three floors of it were all exposed here; Zero could see that he was on the second floor from the open center, and high above him he could see a little of the third floor's railing. And down below was what he wanted to see.

Dire Minuet was on the railing of the first floor, standing at a control panel and looking even further downwards, into a large, dark pit that Zero couldn't see the bottom of. But as Dire pushed some of the buttons, the large room began to rumble. A rocket emerged from the pit below, its white-painted metal gleaming as the lights of the compound hit it. Zero glared with horror at it only for a moment; he had to do something about Dire.

Zero cast himself over the railing of the second level, activating his saber and jamming into the armor plating of the rocket as he slid down, subsequently tearing a trail of damage all the way down to the first level. Jumping over the railing, Zero swung at Dire, who was just lucky enough to dash backward in time. He raised his own sword, poised to defend himself.

"Ha ha!" Dire laughed, everything about him growing more and more insane, not the least of which were his eyes. "Maybe you Hunters can destroy this base, and maybe _you_ can even destroy me, but you can't destroy the rocket in time! You didn't hit any of its fuel lines, and it won't have to go far. Know what it is, Zero? It's a brand new way of spreading the Maverick Virus!"

Zero immediately froze. They couldn't do this to him. Not again.

The Maverick enjoyed every bit of Zero's terror. "Muahahaha! All the other Mavericks just wanted to create a reploid-only world, but they forgot that the 'virus' - it's really too much of a gift to be called that - is what enabled us to see beyond our creators' ludicrious ideals of serving or living amongst mankind. Not only will the blast of this rocket destroy human lives, but it will also send out a transmission that will spread the virus on a massive scale that has never been seen before! We've strengthened the gift itself!"

The rocket was still going upwards, and despite the damage Zero had caused it, he could still see that it was mostly operational. If he could only cut the fuel line, then he would be able to take it down. But there was still Dire, and he was ready to cause as much havoc as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, Zero could see the red LED timer on the computer panel - T minus 1:30 until the rocket would launch. That was all the time he had to figure out how to stop the rocket. And then Zero realized that he had no idea how many rockets could be in the facility.

_" - X, come in! There is a rocket going to launch- - "_

"You didn't really think that I'd allow your communications to work did you?"

"There was always the hope..."

And they fought.

Dire was an excellent swordsman, and despite the fact that his sword was of metal, Zero's plasma sword didn't immediately cut through it. The gashes that dulled the Minuet's blade as the fight prolonged meant that eventually his sword would break, but by that time it would be too late for Zero to destroy the rocket; Dire's madcap fighting was evidence enough that he was didn't consider his own life more important than the virus. He was a good fighter, and Zero was running out of time. Every chance he thought he had to break away and slice the control panel through only allowed Dire another strike, and this Maverick was surprisingly powerful.

That however, was when Zero began to think more clearly. He kicked Dire away, and the Maverick skidded across the floor.

"You can't spread the virus like that! It's such a complex virus that it can't even exist on normal computers." Zero insisted, holding his saber at the ready. "It has to be within a reploid because it manipulates AI. And how would a rocket transport actual Mavericks without destroying them in the process?"

"I was wondering what took you so long to decifer my little puzzle!" Dire got back to his feet, hissing in merry laughter. "Heh, you got me. It's just a regular rocket bomb. Had you there for a minute though. You should have seen the look on your face!"

"I don't care about your nonsense!" Zero was resolute. "I'll defeat you no matter what tricks you use!"

"Then defeat me then!"

"After I stop this rocket."

Taking advantage of the space between them, Zero equipped his buster and fired it off at Dire, making a mad dash to the control panel. Zero knew his fair share of mechanics, but the unfamiliar controls were proving difficult to interpret - at least when he was trying to keep a vigilant Maverick at bay at the same time. But finally, he figured that if he lifted this lever...pressed that key...hacked for the code...and there! The sound of the engine's rockets dulled and faded out as the machine powered down. Zero turned to finish off the Maverick. Where had he gone?

The answer was clear only a moment later. Bright red beams lifted up from the floor around Zero, and once these reached about a foot over his head, the beams bent inwards, sealing up every way out.

"Well, well, good job!" Dire jumped atop the railings next to the rocket, landing lightly without so much as a 'ping'. "You figured out how to shut the rocket down. But the bomb inside can only be shut down from the interior itself. So I should leave now. don't worry, you've got time before the bomb goes off. Just long enough for X to come in and find you. He's searching for you now, close by. Boom!"

Dire laughed, stepping down from the rail like a king. He sheathed his katana. "You know, it's funny, that antique of yours killed all my idiots, and yet nothing about the plan stopped. I'm still going to kill X, and you'll die too! I'm sure I'll get lots more zenny for that! Best of all, since my stupid accomplices are gone, I get all the profits! Isn't that funny?"

"Hilarious." Zero seethed.

"Oh, and don't bother with using your plasma sword. Anti-plasma beams, you know. I'm sure you've encountered them before. Goodbye, Hunter scum!"

Zero, his rage on the point of boiling over, touched the beams to test them. Just as he expected, the super-charged electrons resisted his movements, and they resisted even his most forceful punch. Snarling in rage that he would end up being X's doom, he smacked the bars. Dire was right, he did know what they were. There was no point in trying them. Zero's only hope was the control panel. If he could somehow hack into the Maverick's computer systems through it, then he could tell X to stay away. If he was lucky, he could get the anti-plasma bars down. As he plugged in his zip drive and worked at the control panel, he told himself that certainly Dire would have blocked this computer from the rest of the network if it was in the area trapping him.

_Hey wait...this is easy. Is this a trick by Dire or is he just that idiotic?_

Zero couldn't get the bars down yet, but he was able to access the power center of the Mavericks' computer and power up their own communications.

_Yep, he's an idiot. Alright, I better warn the Hunters...I wish I knew how far this explosion would be._

The red Hunter suspected that the blast would wipe out the entire city. Zero gritted his teeth. Mavericks wouldn't have it any other way.

Zero sent a message through the computer's comm. _" - X, there is a bomb at my location. I don't know how much time there is, but I can't reach it. Trace my signal, if you can, and send an ammunitions expert. - "_

_" - Is something wrong? Have you been hurt? - "_

That was X for you. Always worried about others, especially Zero._ " - I'm fine, just trapped. Send the expert. - "_

_" - I'm coming, Zero! - "_

_" - No! Don't come! The Maverick wants you to be destroyed! You can't risk it! - "_

No response. Zero sighed. What point was there in arguing? Of course X would come - he did know how to defuse bombs himself. Didn't he have any sense? That was what Dire wanted! Zero worked harder at the console, trying to get rid of the bars around him. At this point, the samurai Maverick was not stupid: he had made it so that each bar was controlled by a different password. Zero swore. He'd been doing that a lot more lately since his brother had showed up.

Zero cursed again. He could hear Bass' voice echoing down the metal hall.

"I can still trace you, moron!"

Flying backwards, Dire smacked into the floor and slid at least five feet before he came to a stop.

"You surprised me, you obsolete gutter trash!" Dire snarled. "Any attempt at a real altercation will only result in your ultimate demise!"

"Yeah, he gets that reaction out of basically everyone." Zero muttered, still at work.

"You're such a supportive 'sister', Zero." Dire snapped, also distracted. "And you're also every bit as ugly as Forte says."

Zero didn't answer. He was too busy trying to get out. He already knew Bass' opinion of his looks.

"You've got me to deal with too, Maverick!"

That was Axl. Zero winced. He wanted as few people as possible to be here, and now it seemed like everyone was gathering. Zero forced himself to ignore all the buster shots as the fight with Dire recontinued.

"Do one of you guys know anything about defusing bombs?" he shouted, still working busily at the panel.

"I do!" Axl piped up. "I'm learning, but-"

"Then get inside that rocket and find the bomb! At least find out if we can afford to wait for an expert! Bass, tell me you can handle Dire!"

"Yeah, yeah. Stop your whining, Girly."

Would Zero ever stop gritting his teeth? If Bass didn't shut up with that stupid nickname then he would get the rematch he wanted, with the results he didn't want. He risked a glance upward, noticing that Bass was having trouble. It seemed like his power was less than usual. Had something hurt him? Moreover, when Zero fought Dire, he had sensed real competition, and that was for someone on his own level; Bass might be able to get away with fighting other Mavericks without getting seriously hurt, but Dire wasn't going to let him off so easily. Zero worked faster at the control panel. A blast from the side of the rocket erupted, and he guessed that Axl broke into it successfully.

"We've only got two minutes!" Axl shouted from inside the rocket. "I'll do what I can!"

Minuet growled slightly, slashing at Bass ferociously. It was difficult for Bass to fight, as all of his weapons were for long range fights. Dire's of course, were all close range. Any time the Maverick charged in, Bass would be forced to dash away, his only hope being the sheer number of his buster pellets. But Dire risked the danger and jumped back from Bass, putting his flute once more to his lips. Immediately weapons mechaniloids, about fifteen in number, appeared from...well, no one was really sure from where. But they were heading for Axl.

Bass cursed. "Kid! Watch out-"

And Dire returned, ready for more. He had already sent his soldiers to deal with Axl, and now all he wanted was for Bass to die. He charged in, and even with Bass' crystal busters, Dire still was able to get in close undeterred. Bass was forced to dash away at any convenient moment he had to shoot back. The fight caught Zero's attention - it was hard for it not to when Bass was smacked right up against the resistor beams. With wide eyes he knew that there was no one to keep the mechaniloids under control while Axl worked. Bass couldn't subdue Dire, not in his condition, in any case.

Bass knew it as well. More angry at his own weakness (or was it that Zero noticed?) than at Dire, Bass glared the the glowing red electron force beams, noticing that the red Hunter was having about as much success as he was. With a furious snarl, Bass slammed his fist through two beams, forcing himself to ignore the fact that one false move would sever his limb once more. But all Forte was thinking about was programming and hacking. He forced his way into the computer's controls, and all at once the beams disappeared.

"Go!" Bass shouted.

Zero didn't need any encouragement. His saber blinked into activation, and before anyone knew it, Zero's green saber slashed into Dire's katana. The Maverick himself shook, stunned and surprised at himself for actually getting his own weapon up in time to block. But that was the end of Dire's doubt. He had to fight for his life against one of the two most powerful robots in history.

Still concerned for the others, Zero managed a quick glance back. Dire was a good opponent, so he didn't have much time, but he thought he caught a glance of Bass' arm throwing half of a mechaniloid's shredded body out of the rocket.

_At least he's good for something..._

But the distraction, however momentary, proved to be trouble. It threw Zero off his guard; he didn't notice that while the Maverick was falling back, he was leading Zero into a trap. The blonde Hunter did finally realize this, but by then it was too late. Five more of the mechaniloids popped up out of nowhere, landing around Zero and attacking him with axes. These weren't too troublesome, if only they didn't distract Zero from the main Maverick.

Managing to decapitate two of the mechaniloids with one blow, Zero was unable to block Minuet's next attack. Before he knew it, there was a titanium katana sticking through his chest. Another sword appeared in Dire's hands, and he slashed one last time at Zero one last time before running off. Or that was what he intended to do. Just as soon as he lifted his katana, a charged shot hit him, knocking him to the side.

"No!" Dire shouted in his rage. "Not you!"

X barely gave him time to speak, but nothing more. His X buster tore through Dire before the Maverick even had a chance to attack. And with X's help, the mechaniloids still hassling Zero lasted only two seconds.

Zero's damaged armor was so frightening that X had to cringe. "Are you alright?"

"It's fine, but we -"

"Bass, get down!" Axl cried out.

Before X and Zero could see what was going on, an explosion shook the entire base, sending the heroes to the ground. But after only a moment, the shaking stopped. Nothing appeared to be very damaged, other than the hole in the hull Axl had made earlier to reach the detonator. Axl reappeared out of this same hole peering outwards.

"Hey guys, sorry about that!" Axl said as he jumped and hovered from the side of the rocket to where X and Zero were, thudding down to the ground. "I didn't have enough time to defuse the bomb, so I just disconnected the detonator. Since there's still explosive material on the detonator itself, I just had to throw it down the pit where the rocket came from. Everyone alright? Oh! What happened to you, Zero?"

Zero looked down where Axl pointed, and he had to admit that the katana hilt sticking out of his chest was rather scary looking. He pulled it out of his body, and a few sparks flew out before his automatic repair systems got to work.

"It's not that bad." Zero said calmly as he tossed the katana aside. "It just looks that way."

Somehow, Bass had managed to get out of the rocket on his own and he was approaching the others, limping and trying not to glitch. He glared over at Zero.

"Show-off."

Zero rolled his eyes.

"Alright," X began. "We have to scan to find out exactly how many Mavericks - advanced and mechaniloid - are still left in this base. Though I have a feeling that there aren't many. Our perimeter is still sealed, but we can't take any chances."

"I got some stuff from their computer earlier, but I didn't have a lot of time before hijacking their defenses." Bass said. "I'll hack some more on the computers down here."

"Are you sure? You look pretty bad."

"I'm _fine_."

X doubted that. Bass was doing his best not to shake, but there was clearly something wrong with his balance stabilizers. However, Bass had been the one to look at the main computer earlier, so he would know its defenses better.

"Alright, go ahead then. Axl, you patrol the surrounding area for any Mavericks remaining."

"Okay!" the young Hunter said, lifting a pistol. "I'll have this place cleaned out!"

"And make sure you keep their CPUs so we can discover anything extra."

"Sure will!"

To Bass it sounded like a clever way to make sure that he was being guarded from stray Mavericks (and in fact, this was something X had in mind), but he didn't question it. He just went his way to the control panel, trying to act like the clamp in his knee didn't need replacing.

"Zero, let's check the rest of the base. That is, if you're alright..." X couldn't help but stare at the jagged gap and cracks in Zero's armor, gritting his teeth from the ugliness of the injury.

And it was Zero's turn to object. "There's nothing seriously wrong with me. I've got plenty of fight left, and I have a lot of redundant systems in case anything malfunctions. It's fine."

"You're sure?"

"I wouldn't try to carry out the mission if I was a liability. You worry about me too much." Zero smiled somewhat, until he remembered something important. "But before I forget, I have bad news. Bass found evidence that Dire Minuet was not in charge of the eight Mavericks. And from what Dire himself told me, I have reason to believe that he was hired to kill you."

"You mean there's more of them?" X's face fell.

"I don't know what's going on, but we'll stop them." Zero comforted his friend as best he could. "We stopped these guys, and really, they weren't that bad. Whoever thinks that hiring these guys would have worked can't be all that serious a threat."

That did muster a slight grin in X's face. "That has to be true. Oh, did Bass learn anything else from the computer?"

"We didn't have time to talk. He'll have the data with him."

"Alright. You go ahead and start searching through the rest of this fortress and I'll catch up in a minute."

Zero nodded as X sent him a short range transmission with the layout of the fortress, or what of it the Hunters knew so far, and Zero went down the halls to get started. X went over to Bass, who was steadily engaged in evading the computer's failsafes and anti-hacking software to get to whatever important data he could. He looked like he didn't want to be disturbed. X took a deep breath (wondering why robots were built to breathe) and interrupted anyway.

"Bass?"

"Yeah?" the black and gold robot looked up at him, with a surprisingly low amount of annoyance.

"I'd like to see what you got from their main computer." X said. "If you found out that Dire isn't really the one in charge, then you must have found something that could be important."

"Oh yeah, I meant to say something about it. I found some communications from Dire to somebody called Spectral Saturnine."

"It's alright. It would have come up for the post-mission debriefing. I'd like to see them now, though."

Bass nodded, and he pulled a drive from out of his armor, sticking it in his neck. "I thought you might. I also found some communications with a bunch of businesses already, so yeah, you can have those too."

X was impressed. "Wow, you're really good at hacking."

Forte just shrugged, handing the drive to X and getting his focus back to the monitor screen. "Heh, most of these firewalls are designed for reploids, not first generation robots. It's easy. Since reploids are based off of you I guess engineers never realized that robots can be less complex and still work."

X plugged the drive into his own neck, uploading the information about Dire and his connections. As X watched the data fly through his mind, discovering corrupt businesses connections, plans for building another fortress in Okinawa, and countless other crimes, he felt a sadness rise up within him. He'd been fighting all of these things and more since he had been activated, and now, years later, nothing had changed.

"It's not over..." he found himself saying aloud. "Every time I finally think that it's over, more Mavericks show up and prove me wrong. I just wish this war would end...once and for all. This war has been going on for so long that I don't know if it will ever end..."

"What the crap?"

X found himself being stared at through cold and blood red eyes. Bass had stopped any pretense of working, and was fully, angrily focused completely on X.

"What was that crap you were saying?" the dark robot repeated. "I did not just hear you talk like that!"

The blue Hunter was completely dumbfounded. "Uh...what?"

"Look at you!" Bass snapped. "_You're_ the last great creation of Dr. Light? Did that extra seventy years of testing mess you up or something? You may have all those new weapons and armor and crap, but what are you? Nothing! Dr. Light should have stopped after he built Rock! Rock had his hard times, but you didn't hear him whining like a little girl every time he had to fight a bunch of idiot robot masters! _He _was brave! He always just did some irritating rant about how he'll always 'protect the world from evil' and 'fight for peace no matter how long it takes'. As annoying as that was, it still proves that he's better than you. No matter what situation Rock was in, he _never _complained, never whined for it to be all over! And that's why you'll _always _be in his shadow." Bass turned back to the computer, a lot more foul than before. "Now go away. I'm trying to work."

X stepped back, shocked. No one ever said anything like that to him. Uncertainly, he took two steps back, looking incredulously at his best friend's brother. Were those two robots really related? Was this irrational Bass anything at all like Zero?

_" - X, come in. - " _It was Zero. _" - The other Hunters managed to restore communications, and they say that most of the mechaniloids have been dealt with. The teleportation field is still down, because there's still several places in the fortress that need to be searched. Are you coming? - "_

_" - Yes, I'll be there shortly. - "_

X cut the communication, mad himself. He glared at Bass. "You've got a lot to learn about being a Hunter. We always respect each other. You only get the respect you give."

Bass tried to ignore this, yet after a moment his eyes shifted in X's direction. X was already walking away.

-t-

"So we're holding all our post-mission briefings in the repair lab now?" Axl joked.

"If we keep getting serious injuries like these, then that's not unlikely." Signas replied.

And that was where they were. Axl just had a little armor damage, and X was almost fine, but Zero's injury still needed repair, no matter how much he assured them that it wasn't as bad as it looked. Bass, however, only discovered more and more damage the more that he was scanned. But Signas had wanted to know as much as he could as soon as possible, which was why he and the four Hunters, as well as Douglas and Alia, were all gathered into the private repair lab to talk. Both of its repair tables were being used by Bass and Zero, though there was a spare automated machine just in case. Alia pulled off his helmet and put it on a side table, revealing his pale blonde hair.

"I am so sick of being repaired every other second." Bass said, grumpily sitting up so that Alia could work on him.

"Well, if you wouldn't push yourself so much, then it wouldn't happen." Alia cheerfully said as she removed his chestplate. "Honestly, what isn't damaged on you? Your armor may be good quality, but there's still a lot on the inside of you that can go wrong. I'm not letting you out of Maverick Hunter HQ until you get some upgrades. And there's so much death spike damage - how in the world are you still activated?"

Zero looked over from his own repair table, where Douglas was finishing up some rewiring in his chest. "Oh, so you're immune to death spikes, then?"

"I'm _partially _immune to _crystal-powered _death spikes." Bass confessed. "But I wasn't going to say so in a Maverick base. Let them think I'm invincible, for all I care."

"Let's get to business." Signas said. "I have all of the data compiled from what we found on their computers, and from what I can tell that there is another series of eight Mavericks controlling certain aspects of corporate robot manufacturing all over the world. But there are a lot of innocent reploids tied into this, so we have to be careful: there is reason to believe that these Mavericks are the ones responsible for the renewed production of the faulty copy chips."

"Ah!" Axl exclaimed. "You mean the ones with Sigma's data in them! The ones he and Lumine put inside all of those third generation Mavericks!"

"Yes, I'm afraid so." Signas nodded. "The law decreed that all copy chip production was to be shut down, but there are still those that believe that copy chips can be made without Sigma's data. We're going to have to hold inspections of all capable factories to make sure that all regulations are being complied with."

"I can start on that right away." X walked up. "Japan and America will be the most open to our inspections, and I can go there while we talk to other governments about allowing Maverick Hunter patrols to check out their factories. Britain shouldn't be too difficult."

"Right. I've already lined up for you to check out Miyomoto Mechanics. I doubt you'll find anything there, as their reputation is one of integrity. They invited the Hunters to come inspect them at our leisure." Signas handed a small computer data pad to X. "These are the major companies in Japan that I would prefer your squadron to inspect."

"Alright."

X took the pad looked it over, and Axl couldn't help but look as well. He walked up behind X and they looked at the sites together. Zero wished he could see as well, but he was still being worked on by Douglas. The cheerful green repair-bot was a bit goofy at times, but he was a hard worker.

"I've got it!" Douglas announced. "That's all the wiring. I'll just need to get some armor to replace that panel, and you'll be finished."

"Thank you."

"Hey, it's my job."

Doug took a moment to recall what Zero's armor measurements were before waving at the others and departing.

"I wish you were as easy to deal with." Alia told Bass, tapping on his helmet. "Replacing this armor is expensive. I don't understand...this is the latest technology. How can you possibly have such modern armor?"

"Crystal Bot made this armor for me over a century ago." Bass shrugged. "She never told anyone about it. I guess it just took technology that long to catch up."

"I know!" Axl went over to Bass' repair table, leaning his arms on the table that held Forte's chestplate and helmet. "It was Dr. Inafune who first started producing this type of armor. She must have...er, stolen the design. The primary producer is Miyomoto Mechanics, now. One of her old friends works there."

"Gah." Bass hissed. "She stole it? Crystal worked on my armor for months before perfecting it, and now some company is making money from it like it was theirs? Why do I have to have all this legal crap to deal with...?"

"You're not going to sue them for the rights to produce it, are you?" Alia asked. "I don't think a robot could win in that case. Especially since it's not actually your technology."

"I don't know. There's no telling what Inafune stole from Crystal's mind." Burying his face in his hands, Bass groaned. "I'll have to figure something out."

"Hey, hands down, I'm still trying to work." Alia tugged at his arms, and he relented grumpily. "You'll have to figure it out later."

"Mmh. Oh, Signas, I know you want me to work here or whatever," Bass said. "But I want to go travelling for a while. Just get the lay of the land and figure out how things are in the world nowadays. I'll be back when Roll is fixed."

"Legally speaking, I don't have any authority over you." Signas replied. "And well, I don't think anyone does. There's no laws on what to do with oldstyle robots should they reappear. However, there are a lot of people who think you're a Maverick, especially after your scene in the junkyard. I recommend that you stay with us for a while and join the Hunters officially. Once you're recognised as one of us, you'll find that more people will trust you."

"Erg...I guess that makes sense. I don't have anything better to do than join you guys anyway. As long as you don't keep making stupid plans where I have to get beat up by stupid flying robot heads to infiltrate a Maverick base."

Signas smiled. That was only funny to him, and he could tell Bass wasn't that offended.

"Besides," X said. "Alia needs your help rebuilding Roll."

"What? I'm not a technician. What do you need me for?" Bass turned to her with confusion.

"You said that she would be fine, but I just don't know how to repair first generation robots." Alia said. "I'll show you the scans once I get you in decent condition. If you can get her to work, we can transfer her body into a better body."

"I'll try." Bass puzzled over it, trying to remember everything that Dr. Light and Crystal Bot had taught him about robots. The dark robot cringed, wishing he knew more about robot construction. "I hope you know how to work with A.I."

"I know plenty!" Alia smiled. "But hopefully her A.I. will be intact. If you activated her earlier, she'll be fine. And in the meantime I can get you some decent upgrades. I'm tired of replacing your parts every day."

Alia had to turn around to reach a screwdriver to remove a panel from Bass, and as she reached around to find her tool, her eyes met momentarily with Zero's. But Alia immediately forced her gaze downward, and her smiling lips faded down into a flat line. Zero hadn't been watching her, just looking that way because people were talking. Perhaps Alia thought he was staring, or perhaps she didn't care at all. The real mystery would be if she would ever speak to him again. And as she abruptly turned away, it seemed more and more likely that the answer was no.

\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Bah, I had a lot of trouble with this chapter. I rewrote the entire darn thing, so y'all better like it! Lol. It's way more dramatic and nice than the original. Hopefully y'all will like the next few chapters too. I can already tell you that this story will be shorter than my others, and far more emo.

- Fyi, the timer that was 1:30 was for the rocket launch, not the bomb explosion. Dire didn't set off the bomb until Zero stopped the rocket.

- Y'all remember Miyamoto Mechanics from Wily Ga Taosenai? Turns out they survived the apocalypse. They mostly worked on cars and mechaniloids until the X series when they were able to build reploids, but yeah, they're still around.

GlassSuicune

======Quartz Volkovoi

**"Don't hurt yourself."**

Quartz is a crystal wolf. He's very calm natured, but sharp-eyed. He likes anything valuable and he loves swimming and just generally being under water. Being made of crystal, most laser attacks will just reflect off the crystals of his body and likely hit the player again. He can send waves of crystals up from the ground with one slash of his paw, and if he gets his maw on the player's neck, he'll have a heck of a time getting out of his grip. Quartz also has an attack where his claws grow larger and slash at the player. If the player wins, he gets Quartz Paw, an attack where they get a large crystal paw that swipes out and also reflects lasers.

This one was hard, but since a 'suicine' is a wolf pokemon, I went with volkovoi - Russian for wolf. Quartz is kinda like glass.

Laryna6

======Clamorous Lynx

**"I want to bite you! Can I bite you? I think I'll bite you! Tasty!"**

This Maverick is small but ridiculously energetic, and she is quite noisy (not Flame Hyenard noisy, but still). She likes the jungle, and loves watching flowers grow - and then chewing on them. She's silly, but definitely very dedicated to creating a Maverick world because she thinks humans mess up the jungle. She roars in shockwaves, and she dives at the player relentlessly. The player that beats her gets the Clamorous Roar, which is a shockwave attack that bounces off the walls.

This one was really, really hard. "Laryna" got no results, so I went with "larynx" to get a noisy word, hence Clamorous. "Lynx" also sounded close, so that too.

XSDStitch

======Impede Variable

**"No one has moves like me!"**

Unlike most Mavericks, Impede is a humanoid, not an animal. He was designed by Sigma himself to destroy X, so he has never been a normal reploid. Unlike X, he is a black and red robot, but otherwise has very similar armor to the reploid. He has the Impede Buster, which is at a constant state of being half-charged (and he can charge it further). He is good at skateboarding, and he uses his skateboard to slide under X's shots while attacking. The player that beats him gets the Variable board, which can be used to jump further. When you land, the board shoots out and smacks the nearest enemy.

This one was also difficult. However, once I saw the "X" in the name, I figured that this guy would be the anti-X. So that's where the varible comes from. "Stitch" turned up some weird things on thesaurus .com, but one of the synonyms was "impede", and I like how that sounds.


	7. Roll

Run: Proto Bot.

New memory detected. Partially accessed. Full syncronization in progress...

...

...

Syncronization underway. Identity: Roll.

A history appeared in her mind. It was the history of a girl-bot built by a loving scientist, and she had brothers. Data raged onwards, through periods of war, each ended by a robot in blue. Friends and enemies alike rushed across her mind as the memories of days long past recounted themselves. And then the loss began, of first her creator, then her friends, her brother, her home...herself. But she wasn't gone. She came back, with new faces, new friends...and new enemies. And then the black returned, with no light in the distance. It felt like an eternity - it felt like an instant. And then it was over.

"Roll...?"

She didn't recognize the voice. It was one she had never heard before. Her vocal database didn't have a match for it. And so she opened her eyes. Roll was laying down on some sort of flat surface, but that was not the first thing that she noticed. She was in small laboratory with only two repair tables and yet walls covered in nothing but tools. This too she paid no mind. Standing there was a robot in blue, tall and noble. His gentle face had long been loaded into her memory data. She sat up, smiling as if there was no smile big enough for this occasion.

"Y'know, I kind of thought that when we met, things would be the other way around."

Mega Man X returned the smile as he reached out his hand. Roll took it, coming down from the repair table. Before one of her feet even landed on the ground, Roll rushed forward, holding her youngest brother in a tight embrace. He was younger, but not "littler" - X had to get on a knee to be able to hug her properly. But he didn't care. This was his sister. For so many years she had been nothing but a picture and a page or so of data in his mind, but now she was real, one more reminder of the goodness of Dr. Light. Neither sibling was sure that they ever wanted to let go.

"Ah, and Bass!" Roll abruptly said, afraid something might have happened to him. "Oh please, he's here too, right?"

"Yeah, yeah." a very familiar voice said. "I said I would be, didn't I?"

X directed her to the side of the room, where the fin-headed robot was sheepishly leaning against the wall, arms folded. It took him completely off-guard when he too became the next victim of Roll's ever-tightening embrace. Fortunately for Bass, one awkward moment later Roll remembered who it was. She, however didn't seem to notice quite how awkward it had been. Or perhaps she was too distracted by her own emotion. Forte caught a glimpse of her eyes as she pulled away, and for a moment they shone as if with tears.

"Oh Bass, it was so horrible!" Roll managed through her grief. "I thought that you were gone...and Sona-chan! If you made it, then did she - ?"

Even before she had finished speaking, Bass lowered his eyes to the ground. Biting his lip, his shook his head stiffly, just enough to convey a definite "no".

"But the capsule! Please, Dr. Light has to be here!"

Bass sighed. This was harder than he had imagined. "The capsule stopped working a couple of months ago."

Roll fought to keep herself from sobbing. "Did you at least get to talk to him?"

"No." Bass answered flatly. "I wasn't there."

"So...no one else survived?" Roll couldn't help the whining tone her voice took, but it was all she could do not to burst into tears. "Not even Auto or...Eddie...or Snake Man?"

"Snake Man?" This took Bass off his guard. "Why the crap do you care about him?"

"Oh! That's right, you weren't there for that." Roll sniffed. "I made a lot more friends after you guys...died..."

"It's just me now." Bass muttered, wrinkling his nose. "Sorry."

Almost any attack Bass would have noticed at once, but for the second time, Roll caught him in a tight embrace, weeping and sobbing into his chestplate. "Thank you for still being alive, Bass! Thank you so much!"

Once she noticed what she was doing, Roll expected him to push her away with a number of complaints. Much to her surprise she found that Bass had extended his arms around her shoulders in a nice, if a bit awkward, hug. Too overtaken by her crying, Roll just went on.

"Wow...you do have a heart..." X said, even more surprised than Roll.

Bass rolled his eyes, growling at X. "It makes them shut up faster."

As much as she was crying, Roll let out a tearful laugh. Bass' blunt commentary was something familiar, the nearest thing she had to any semblance of normalcy. No matter how rude and out of place it was, Roll was grateful for it.

"I'm glad someone made it. It was so horrible..." Roll managed, uncertain if she wanted to go on. "But...you were there for most of it."

X approached Roll from behind and he put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to say anything about that time if it's too hard for you."

"Well...you'll want to know sometime...and at some point, I'll want to tell you. But for right now-" Roll brightened, letting go of Bass and making herself forget all of the things she'd had to face alone. She wasn't alone any longer, and she didn't want to behave like it. She took a deep breath and tried her hardest to smile up at X. "I want to know all about what's going on now, with my brother! Wow, I'm so happy that you lived! I fought so hard...well, not as hard as Rock, but I did my best! I'm just happy that's over now."

Her brother looked confused, and both of the guy-bots in the room seemed to falter a bit. The softness in X's gaze trembled slightly and what little happiness Bass showed faded also. Roll turned from one robot to the other, trying to understand. What were they hiding from her?

"Roll..." X began. "Many years have passed, and you'll find that things today aren't...quite what Dr. Light imagined for the future. We do what we can, but right now a war still rages."

Bass went over to the one computer in the room, reaching over the keyboard to push a small button under the monitor. Out of a nearby slot, a disc emerged, and Bass pulled it out as he went back to the girl-bot. He handed it to Roll with aprehension, holding it out gruffly in a strange attempt to numb her to whatever terrible data the disc had encoded into it.

"This is everything you need to know about what's happened since the apocalypse." Roll didn't always like Bass' blunt tone, and she was especially uncertain as he explained the disc. "I didn't want to install it right away, because it's already hard enough that you have to deal with having to re-sync to your original memory card after using your secondary one for so long. Use it whenever you're ready."

"I..." 

Roll stared at the disc, almost afraid. But she couldn't just ignore whatever this new time period faced. She would have to know what was going on. If a war was being fought, then she would have to be there for X as much as she could, and she wouldn't be able to do that if she didn't understand anything. All the same...

"I won't use it now." Roll finally said. "I'll just save it for later. Right now I want to meet all your friends, and the doctor that owns this lab. He must be wonderful if you work for him!"

Once again merry, the girl-bot reached out and took the disc, with her right arm. It wasn't until she had held the disc for a second that she realized the importance of this small act.

"I have my hand again!" Roll exclaimed, waving it about in the air and wriggling her fingers. "The energy sword generator is gone!"

In meeting the others Roll had completely forgotten to check on her body. It was entirely new, and as well as having her normal, thin, and delightfully feminine right arm back, she also had normal legs again. Her new outfit brought a smile to her face - it was so darling! The top was an extra long blouse, white with several tiny red flowers printed all over it. It came with a thin silver belt that circled her waist - it was definitely for fashion and not function. Under the blouse she wore red shorts that came down to just above her knees. They were simple and had no design, but Roll liked them anyway, tucking the disc into a side pocket.

"I look like myself again!" Roll exclaimed gleefully. "Well, except for this..."

Roll lifted her left arm, and despite her lovely return to girlishness instead of pieced together armors, there was still the thick, oval metal around her left wrist - a buster. Her small, delicate-looking hand was dwarfed by it, though her computer mind assured her that at any time her hand could disassemble into a fully operational weapon. It was red as her outfit, but it was still a weapon, another reminder that some things could never return to normal.

"It's the Mega Buster, sort of." Bass said quietly. "I thought you'd want to have it. Both your weapons didn't work when we found you, so I just combined them. When you fight - if you ever have to - then you can convert your left hand to the buster. It will be a normal sword until you charge it, then it's a projectile."

Roll looked uncertainly at the weapon, telling herself that she should be grateful. Yet the idea that she should be both Roll and a fighter filled her with horror. Dr. Light hadn't designed her for war, and despite the fact that she was forced to fight in the past, it was different then. In those days she had to give up her girlishness with armor from all three of her brothers - she hadn't been the Roll she was meant to be. And now that she was built back to her original specifications, it didn't fit somehow.

Seeing her uncertainty (and X's from behind her), Bass frowned. "I'm not going to leave you defenseless, no matter what you say."

"Wait a minute, _you _did this?"

"That's right." X told her. "Bass was able to determine your specs from his memories of you, and he helped Alia build you this new body."

"You can actually do that?" Roll still couldn't grasp that Bass would ever do anything constructive.

"Eh, Sonata made me learn about robotics." Bass lifted one side of his mouth, for a moment having the appearance of someone ever-so-slightly humble. "I did what I could."

"I really do like it." Roll assured him, happily wriggling her dextrous fingers. "It's so wonderful to have both hands! And my mind feels so much better! No lag or anything!"

Bass's growing smirk, arrogant as it was, made Roll laugh. That was the Bass she knew.

"Alia did a lot of the work as well." X reminded Bass, not unamused. "She did construct most of Roll's new CPU."

"Alia?" Roll asked. "Can I meet her?"

"Sure," The smile of X down on Roll was like sunshine. "Everyone is waiting to meet you."

The room they were in was a separate lab from the rest of the work area, and once the door opened, Roll gasped at the sight before her. This laboratory was the largest that she had ever seen, containing different stations. Far to the left she could see the automated machines, and it must have been a round room as that part of it curled around and out of sight. Also to the left was the armor station, which took up the rest of the left side, and to the right were the weapons development and testing areas, as well as an ammo preparation section that was secluded by transparent, bullet-proof panels.

"This is Maverick Hunter Headquarters." X explained. "We're a reploid-only law enforcement agency that handles robot-related crime."

The far wall was a window, and Roll felt tempted to run over to it and look outside. But she knew there would be time for tours later. For now, there would be friends to make, and the first of which was a green and blue girl-bot, whose "blonde" hair consisted of strips of yellow metal.

"Wow, you look just like X!" the girl-bot delightedly exclaimed as she approached. "Well, mostly. Cuteness must run in the family!" Pallette winked at X, who only rolled his eyes.

"Really? I haven't got a look at my face since I was rebuilt."

Wondering what the rest of her looked like, Roll looked around for some sort of mirror. But it was a very complex labs, filled with reploid parts, computers, wires, cords and pipes, not mirrors.

"You boys! Ya don't know that much about us girl-bots, huh?" Pallette cheerfully pulled out of her pack a small mirror with bronze, guilded borders. "Here, sweetie, you can see yourself here. Thought you might want to."

"And she's Pallette, by the way." X mentioned.

"Oh yeah!" she blushed as she handed the mirror to Roll. "Hi there!"

Roll lifted the mirror to see her face, and she immediately brightened. It wasn't a facscimile or a redesign, it was her own face, new and fresh as the day when she had been activated. The only difference was that her golden blonde hair was being held up by a red headband. Roll giggled.

"Wow, I do look like me again! Thank you, Pallette!" Roll gave the mirror back, and the navigator packed it away again, back into the jumble of wires, discs, and data devices that made up the junky interior of her purse. "Aw, you're so lucky, Roll! Between Alia and Bass, you're really well built! They did such a good job on you!"

"Didn't he? I really love it!"

As she imagined, the effect this had on Bass was a significant one. He stood a little straighter and grinned a bit deeper, enough to make Roll have to force herself not to giggle. Bass hadn't changed that much. By his smug grin and arrogant posture, Roll could tell that he was just as arrogant as ever. Well, she would let him be this time. He earned it. But as she saw the oncoming approach of another robot, this one a strawberry brunette with black and grey armor, she froze.

"Cool, it's really you!" he exclaimed as he walked up. "I'm Axl! It's nice to meet you...uh, why are you staring at me?"

"I'm sorry, it's that you look so much like an old friend of mine..."

"Oh, you mean Crystal Bot! I'm based off her! And Bass too."

Bass immediately interrupted, rushing through his next words to make absolutely sure that Roll didn't misunderstand. "Look, Roll, okay, there was this time when me and Crystal were found by this scientist, and she-"

There were times when X really enjoyed his superior height to the dark robot, and this was definitely one of them. He grabbed a headfin and shoved Bass aside, promptly interrupting him. "Axl is their son."

"What?" Roll laughed it up, deviously smirking at Bass. "Aw, Forte-kun is a dad! That's so cute!"

"Grrr!" Bass hissed, slapping X's hand out of the way. "Robots don't have family! Axl was just based on us because the chick that created him...well she was crazy or something! I don't know!"

"That's cruel, Bass." Roll teased him, going and putting an arm around the young Hunter. "Poor Axl, you must feel like such an orphan."

"Yeah! 'Dad', you're such a deadbeat." Axl joked.

"ROBOTS DON'T HAVE FAMILY! And what did I just tell you about calling me _that?_"

"Oh sorry, _father_, but I think I'm a little too old for a spanking."

X laughed so hard he could hardly stand it. "Okay you guys, let's not torture Bass anymore. That's enough. And he's not exactly a deadbeat, Roll. He's been showing Axl new techniques for fighting with rapid-fire weapons any chance he can get. And now that you're built, he'll have more time for it."

"Aw, you are a good dad after all."

Roll was genuinely impressed that Bass was helping Axl, despite her teasing. She didn't know that he had the patient to teach anyone anything. He certainly wasn't patient enough to put up with the mockery of the others. The narrow slits his eyes had become as he glared at Roll were looking very characteristic of his old self.

"You're lucky I spent the past half-month building you, Roll." His tone was gruff. "I don't feel like having to do that again soon."

And yet despite his dark mannerisms, Roll didn't believe him. She didn't know if it was that Bass somehow seemed more kind - was it his voice or his posture that showed this? - or if she was somehow more tough. But she didn't question it. She wanted to observe Axl some more. He really did look like Crystal Bot, and his hair was a combination of both robots'. And maybe Bass didn't see it, but Axl definitely had his cheekbones. "Son" or not, Axl was a perfect approximation of how both robots would look combined.

"Aw, Crystal Bot would just love you." Roll gushed. "I wish she were here to meet you!"

"She would?" Axl was equally enthusiastic. "Bass let me have some memories of her."

"Oh come on, you guys are not fair!" another girl-bot, this one taller and in pink, lightly protested. "I've been working on Roll for half a month, and you activate her without me?"

"Well it's not our fault that you got called to work." X said, likewise jokingly.

Coming from the armor division, Alia was hauling a huge chestplate for another reploid, freshly made. She thunked this on a nearby countertop before reaching out to shake Roll's hand. "Hi, I'm Alia, Chief Navigator of the Maverick Hunters, and sometime reploid-mechanics specialist. They really work me hard here!"

"Don't act as if you don't love every minute of it." X said. "If you ever had a day off you'd spend it doing research for future missions."

"I know that feeling." Roll said. "I don't know what I could do if someone told me I couldn't clean house."

Another reploid walked up as Roll spoke to Alia, and with curiousity the housekeeper-bot turned to tall, dignified newcomer.

"And there's the evil overlord now." Bass smirked.

Signas glanced only somewhat in Bass' direction, but with the slightest of expressions he conveyed a mild humor. "Good morning, Roll. I am Commander Signas. Contrary to what you are told, I am less evil than Bass would have you believe."

"Yeah, and that's why you send me on all those stupid, almost suicidal missions."

"I'm going to have to get rid of you somehow."

"Bastard." Bass snickered.

"Hello, sir." The girl-bot curtsyed out of manners, which was difficult to do without a skirt. "It's nice to meet you."

The military nature of the Hunters HQ was starting to get to Roll. Was it always like this? X was a part of it? Dr. Light didn't create his robots for military purposes. Then again, he had told Roll about the mind he had given X. She looked up at her taller brother (actually, everyone was taller than her), with wonder in her eyes. X must have joined this group for good reasons. That was what his thirty years of testing was for. Had he formed the group in the first place?

X smiled down at his sister, but misunderstood her concern. "You don't need to be so formal. Signas doesn't run things that way."

"Oh! Sorry!" Roll giggled nervously. "There's just so much I have to get used to."

"It's okay, you can hang out with me and Layer!" Palette was always jolly. "Just wait til you meet her. She's on duty in navigation now, but us girls can go hang out together sometime. It'll be fun! Oh yeah, and you too Alia!"

"Thanks for remembering me, Pallette." Alia laughed. "A girl's night out sounds fun. You should come out with us, Roll."

"Sure, but I think I need to spend some time with X first." Roll grabbed X's hand, and he squeezed back. "He is my brother, after all!"

"I totally understand." Pallette nodded. "Oh! It's time for me to go on shift in navigation. I better run off. I'll see you later, Roll!"

Roll waved as Pallette went off. She liked Pallette's cheerfulness. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad here. X sure had a lot of friends in this organization. An old, creeping fear began to return: where in all of this did Roll fit in? She tried not to shiver. It was just the same as right after Dr. Light died...her original purpose had been to care for him, and that was it. There were no openings for anything else. And now that she was in a reploids' only organization, what use could she possibly be? Roll shook aside her fears for now. She just wanted to focus on learning all she could and make friends. Let all the serious things wait for some other time.

As she was thinking all these things, Roll glanced over to the side. There was a red robot there, and he had long, blonde hair. Roll loved it at once - what robot had hair like that? Once she saw his face, however, she forgot all about his shining locks. It was stiff, not cold or stern, but unsettled. He had the look of someone that didn't ask too much from life - and wasn't getting even that. He paid no heed to any of the robots around him, but busily worked doing something Roll didn't quite understand at a computer.

_Maybe he's filing a report or something. Poor thing. He looks lonely._

"Why does that robot over there look so sad?" Roll pointed over in the blonde's direction. "Who is he?"

X glanced over, shocked to see Zero. He hadn't expected Roll to notice him first. It made him a bit nervous. And for Zero's part, well, he looked just the same as he always did. Why did Roll think he was unhappy? He and Zero had been friends for a long time; was he really having this hard of a time reading his emotion?

"I don't think he's sad." Axl said, likewise unsure.

Seeing who they were talking about, Alia scowled, trying to distract the newcomer. "Roll, why don't you-"

"Why don't you talk to him?" X suddenly interrupted. "He's a good friend of mine, and if he's sad it will cheer him up to meet you."

"That sounds like a good idea!"

Normally no one was a match for Bass' evil grimaces, other than Mavericks, but Alia's enraged glare at X was really giving him a run for his money. It had the even greater affect of being on a far more innocent face. Only X knew the best way to get back at her - pay it no mind. This had no visible reaction on Bass, who only followed Roll at a polite distance, silently urging Axl to come along with him. Alia's glare was really only affective on the young Hunter, who shuddered as he followed Forte.

Signas however, was not going to let it pass. Before Alia had gone two steps or opened her mouth to protest, the Commander had stopped her. A few quiet words later, and Alia soured even worse. But she did calm down. Signas' narrow eyes still focused on her, and Alia uncomfortably bore several more words, no less harsh for being inaudible to anyone else. With only one faint protest, Alia seemed to accept - not graciously - the lecture. She hammered her lips together as Signas ordered her to leave.

"Are you crazy? This can go really wrong. I'm only thinking of Roll-"

"You have work to do, Alia."

Signas was aware of the risk, ignoring Alia as she finally walked away. She bitterly wondered if Signas had specifically wanted her to work on the Hunter's armors when Roll was activated. Why was Signas always defending Zero?

Zero had forced himself to enter the engineering complex ever since he heard that Roll was ready to be activated. It was the worst feeling ever, and once X and Bass had disappeared into the private side lab, Zero was tense. He waited on the side, doing some reports for the 17th squad as he wondered what he would do when Roll came out to meet everyone. He had good reason to be: Roll knew everything about him. Roll had been there during the robot apocalypse, and there was no reason to assume she knew anything less about Zero's past than Bass did. Bass himself had warned him about it.

But that was getting ahead of things. Zero had first been approached by X, and they had a long, awkward conversation about how he probably shouldn't be there when Roll was activated. Zero was glad that the conversation had been with X. With anyone else, it would have been too painful. And it was X's sister, too. He was worried that Roll would be frightened of Zero.

**"Maybe there's some way she can get to know you gradually, and see who you really are." X had said. "In time, I'm sure she can see you as the reploid I know you to be."**

Bitterly, Zero sighed. Soon after that conversation, Zero very hesitantly asked Bass his opinion. That was when he learned that Roll already knew everything - his origins, his purpose, and the virus. That was to say nothing of the death of Rock. It only made matters worse that Bass was so harsh about it, snarling with contempt. It was clear that he hated talking about it.

**"Just hurry up and talk to her once she's activated. She'll cry, get over it, and never care again as long as you're a good guy. She's a Light-bot, and they're just nuts like that."**

Was that supposed to be reassuring? Pushing aside the annoyances of his 'brother', Zero spent the next ten minutes trying to figure out what he would say to Roll. How would he explain his past? Of course she would see the history of the Hunters, and Zero's own part in that, once she was given the disc that would catch her up to modern times. And what if he _did _frighten Roll?

And what if he really had killed Rock?

Well, the 17th squad still needed armor, so the reports would be a sufficient distraction for Zero until Roll emerged, followed by X and Bass. Zero listened as Roll met the others, cheerfully greeting each one. The poor girl sounded so innocent.

"Why does that robot over there look so sad?"

Zero looked up to see Roll pointing at him. She hesitantly dropped her hand once she saw him looking her direction, but this didn't stop her from approaching and taking her innocent smile along with.

"Hi, I'm Roll!" she said.

"Yes, I know." Zero answered calmly, despite that he was a bit stunned. She didn't know what he looked like?

"Oh, I guess X told a lot of people that I was being rebuilt." Roll giggled. "Well, you know my name. What's yours?"

Zero knew that she was being polite. She was trying to be as friendly as possible, trying to get him to open up. He glanced up at X and the others for a moment, then turned his doubtful eyes back down to the friendly girl-bot. Boy, was she in for a shock.

"I'm Zero."

Roll didn't immediately react. She turned her head aside for a moment, and it was clear she was accessing her memory; she knew his name. It clicked seconds later, and she wrinkled her forehead.

"Zero? _The_ Zero?" That's...that's so wonderful!" Roll clapped her hands in delight. "And now you're X's friend? That's so funny! I bet Dr. Wily would be so mad if he knew! Wouldn't he, Bass?"

"Heh, yeah." Bass smirked a bit, reveling in imagery. "I wish the old bastard was alive so that he could see it."

"More than that," X added, smiling encouragingly at his friend. "Zero is a great Hunter. I don't know where the Hunters would be without him."

"And he even flew a shuttle into a space station that was going to crash into the earth!" Axl exclaimed. "He's really cool!"

"Well, he's tough." Bass shrugged. "But not a threat. He kills Mavericks, and that's what counts."

"Don't talk like that." X said. "He's helped you a lot. And Zero has rescued me, time and time again."

"He has?" Roll turned back to the red reploid. "Thank you for taking care of X!"

Zero blinked uncertainly, but a feeling a lightness hit him as he answered, and he smiled. "You don't need to thank me. X is my friend. I'll always protect him as long as we work together."

"Aw!" Was there no end to Roll's terminal adorableness? She clutched Zero's arm as if she had always known him. "It's so wonderful to know that X has a friend like you. I'm really proud of you for being a good guy. And Bass, he is _not_ ugly! His armor is very stylish, with a Japanese flair."

"Funny..." Bass snorted, rolling his eyes. "I wasn't aware that people from Japan like ugly crap."

"Bass! Oh don't listen to him, Zero! He doesn't have a sense of art."

Roll stuck out her tounge at the offender, but there was no need. Zero was hardly offended. In fact, he grinned rather vengefully at Forte.

"I think he _is_ artistic. After all, he did pick out your outfit, Roll."

"No way!"

"It's true. You can ask Alia."

The girl-bot immediately swung both hands up to her face, trying and failing miserably to hold in her laughter. Axl, however, let out a mighty guffaw.

"I didn't know that!" he laughed, holding in his sides.

"Shut up!" Bass hissed, his eyebrow twitching as if he had just lost another fight with Mega Man. "I picked the first red thing I saw, alright? Roll likes red, and that's all I know! And you can keep your mouth shut, Girly!"

Zero confidently straightened, folding his arms with a look that clearly said, "make me". "I'm the one that's 'girly'? Well, if you don't like my armor, then obviously it's out of style. Perhaps since you know so much about fashion, you could design some better armor for me."

And as the others laughed, a relieved Zero allowed himself to relax, releasing a knot of anxiety still within him. This day was already looking a lot better.

-t-

**"Humph!"**

**A thunking sound interrupted the relative silence of the jungle, and Bass groaned as he realized that this had to be the boulder that lay atop the secret exit of Wily's underground castle. He had just been checking his buster, ready to shoot up some innocent animals, and he didn't want to be bothered by anyone. The only company he was in the mood to tolerate was Treble's, and the wolf could sense his master's apprehension. **

**Shoving aside the branches of the trees, Bass went to look and see who it was. If he was lucky, it was someone that would go back down quickly. Robots weren't known for their appreciation of nature. It was a robot that Bass didn't recognise. Not that that was an achievement; Bass never bothered to memorize what "junk-bots" his master had created, especially the ones built before him. This robot was made from green metal, accented by a cyan that matched the crystal orbs built into it. **

_**A girl-bot? Since when does the old man build them?**_

**Bass didn't care enough to seek an answer to his question, he just watched as the auburn crystal girl huffily climbed out of the secret base and dusted off her skirt. The frustrated girl clenched her fists, stomping her foot in anger.**

**"I just hate them all! Stupid jerk-butts!" She snapped to no one, like a child having a hissy fit. "I hate, hate, HATE them!"**

**Bass rolled his eyes. He didn't know who this newcomer was, and he didn't care. Fortunately, as long as she felt like she was alone, it didn't seem that she wanted to go anywhere. It was a big island, so Bass figured he could just go somewhere else.**

_**" - Treble, let's go. - " **_**he transmitted so that the girl-bot couldn't hear. **_**" - Treble? - "**_

**"Oh? Oh! It's Trebby!"**

**Bass gagged. He had temporarily forgotten that girls were Treble's one weakness, and it didn't make a difference if that girl was a robot. Always out for attention, the dog had cautiously approached the crystal bot, hoping for her to pet him. And as Bass walked up, that was exactly what was happening. The girl-bot was merrily scratching behind his ears, only a remnant of a pout on her face.**

**"You're such a good dog, Trebby." she smiled as she pet him. "But if you're here, that must mean...EEE! Forte-kun is here too!"**

**She smiled and waved at Bass, leaving him to wonder what about his hateful expression made her think that she could use the Japanese friendship suffix with his name. **

**"Leave my wolf alone...you."**

**The girl put a hand on her hips. "My name is Crystal Bot, and I'm not bothering him. He likes me." Giggling, her expression changed and her slight attitude instantly disappeared. "Wow, I can't believe I'm meeting the great Forte-kun! You're so cool! None of the other stupid robot masters could ever surivive a fight with Mega Man, but you're so brave and persistent."**

**That got a slight twitch that might be mistaken for a smile from Bass. If women were the purple canine's weakness, then flattery was certainly his. But he still was in a hurry to get to shooting things, so he opened his mouth to protest her touching his robot assistant. Only she didn't let him have a chance.**

**"I wish the other guys were as cool as you, but they're stupid and meanies." Crystal Bot got on her knees to better pet Treble, who flirted just like a real dog as he nosed at her for attention. "I mean, here I am, just as hard working for Dad as they are, and they have to go and talk crap about Team 5! They keep saying we're weak and lame and boring! Forte-kun, tell Trebby to eat their faces off!"**

**Ironic. If it hadn't been for the stupid, new failsafes Wily had tricked Bass into recieving, then Bass would be doing just that. He wasn't going to think about it. He just wanted his dog back and to leave in peace.**

**"I don't know why they bother mocking 5." Bass muttered as he reached for Treble. "It's not like they don't suck just as bad."**

**"What?" Crystal exclaimed, loud enough to distract him from his task. He looked up to see that the girl-bot's eyes were brimming with hope. "You really mean it?"**

**"Yeah, I guess." Bass grabbed one of the back spikes of Treble's large head, pulling him away from Crystal Bot's affections (Treble whined). "Team 2 thinks that they're the best, but they're losers like everyone else."**

**"Aw!" Crystal Bot squealed, making Forte grit his teeth. "That's such a nice thing to say! I always knew you were the coolest! You're so smart! I knew we were just as good as them! I gotta tell Wave Man! Thanks, Forte-kun!"**

**"Stop calling me that!"**

**But the girl-bot was already gleefully disappearing back into the base, reaching for the rock to pull it back into its proper position. Another thunk, and the boulder hid any trace of the secret entrance.**

**Bass had seen his share of crazy robot masters, but this was another thing entirely. "What a crackhead."**

Axl laughed a little as the memory ended. Had Bass screened these before showing them to him? Obviously not.

Normally Axl wasn't one to lurk in the garden of Maverick Hunter Headquarters, meditating on life. That was always X's thing. Axl sometimes teased him about it. Tonight, it was a different story. As much as he loved watching the memories of Crystal Bot, and as much as he had inherited her dogged cheerfulness, it just wasn't enough. It hadn't been enough for a while. For once in his lifetime, the young Hunter was gloomy. He sighed restlessly as he sat on the metal bench.

_Hey, why does this garden have a bench? We're reploids. We don't really need to sit._

The bright oranges, yellows and reds of this part of the garden were still showing off their color, even in the fading light. Soon enough it would be time for the meeting with Roll. It was still the same day she had been activated, but Axl had to so some training. Afterwards there was a little more than an hour for Axl to think about everything before he had to head down to the Commander's office. Signas had wanted to know more about the robot apocalypse, hoping to reduce the number of times that Roll had to tell the story.

And to give her one venue where she could tell the complete truth about Zero without anyone else hearing.

Axl wondered why he was told to come to the meeting. Knowing Signas, Axl guessed that he didn't want Axl to be excluded, not when it was his friend's life at stake. Or was it at stake? All they knew for sure at this point was that Roll had "outlived" Bass, as far as surviving the apocalypse went. She either knew more about Zero, or she didn't.

_It must be hard for her to think about it. I hope she's not intimidated by the meeting._

Axl's curiousity scared him, but that diminished the curiosity no less. He wanted to know what had happened to Crystal Bot. Why were she and Bass both found underground? It was horrible to think about. Crystal Bot had almost lived. If she had the same back-up system that Bass did, then she could have been repaired, her memory at least mostly intact. She had come so close...if only his creator's lab hadn't been attacked by those Mavericks, then Dr. Inafune would have fixed her. Axl knew she would, or so his optimism told him. But she had died. So had Crystal, and the only thing left of her was a crystal orb, an occupant of the evidence lockers. He had read Bass' report when Bass had fought those first three Mavericks, and he knew what it was. That was why he had managed to snag it from the lockers (with Signas' permission, of course), and now rolled it back and forth in his palm.

It glittered and glistened in the streetlights that were beginning to alight, but it was nonetheless a solemn item. Or those were the feelings it produced in its bearer. Axl squinched his eyes tightly shut, clasping the item with equal ferocity.

_Mavericks...if only...if only they hadn't..._

Axl refused to open his eyes. The thought that naturally followed was trying to attack him, trying to make itself known. Axl hated it with his whole heart, but that didn't stop it from forcing its way directly into the forefront of Axl's mind.

_She would be alive...if only it weren't for Zero._

"No!" Axl cried out, slapping his hand over his mouth only a second later, hoping no one heard him. Sighing once more, he let his arm drop. He lifted the other, staring into the crystal orb. He found himself not thinking about his "mother", but Red. When he had been alone in the world without a creator or a friend anything could have happened. He wasn't even sure why he survived the destruction of Dr. Inafune's lab. So many different things could have happened to Axl: he could have been sold for scrap, torn apart while a thief stole his copy chip, or just left out to rust for who knows how long. Red had saved his life.

Red had been a kind leader, however insubordinate he was to the Maverick Hunters. His team was no less kind than he, except for Splash Warfly. However, Axl's scoff at the cowardly marine reploid wasn't a bitter one. Part of him missed Warfly's obnoxious quips - and another part knew better. Vanishing Gungaroo, while annoying, had been Axl's prime "rival". Both of them were so young that they couldn't help but get on exactly like competitive brothers. All of Red Alert had been welcoming when they found him. They never took advantage of his copy ability, not once, not until...all of them changed so much...

_If it weren't for Zero..._

This time, Axl couldn't resist the doubt. He wavered, shaking as he hunched down further. Axl tucked the orb into his armor. He didn't want to look anymore, not at the crystal or the memories. It just wasn't fair. Axl checked his internal chronometer. It was almost time for him to go to the meeting, but he was in no rush.

"Axl? Are you alright?"

Axl turned to the entryway of the building. "Oh, hey Alia. Yeah, I'm fine."

The navigator saw through his lie. Axl couldn't even claim he was hiding it, and he just stared down dully at his empty hands. Alia walked over to him, her gentle footsteps conveying the sympathy she felt as she sat down beside him on the bench.

"Is this about Zero?"

And then the peace shattered. Axl's heart twisted into a knot.

"I don't want to start with you, Alia."

"You can't be just alright about it." Alia anxiously rubbed her arm, as was her habit. "It's hard to learn the truth. You're thinking about Red Alert, aren't you?"

She wasn't accusing him? Axl glanced at her uncertainly, and she seemed just as depressed as him about it.

"Yeah..." he confessed. "I...I miss them..."

Alia understood. Being so happy, it was difficult for Axl to convey what sadness he felt. She placed a hand on his, comforting as always. "We've all lost a lot of friends, Axl. It's been hard on everyone. Zero..."

Alia wanted to continue, but she honestly didn't know what she had been going to say. The tormenting conflict she felt wouldn't let her go, and she was as dumbfounded to explain her mind as Axl. Axl wanted to say something, as Alia was one of the few people who knew the true meaning of the virus, and he could discuss it with her. Try as he might, all he could muster up was one meager sentence, though it turned out to summarize his feelings rather well.

"I wish I didn't know." he said. "I can't bear to think of Zero like this."

Alia turned away from Axl, so he wouldn't see stiff, clenched frown. Her shoulders hunched over with an unusually terrible posture. Showing his definitely characteristic naiivety, the young Hunter assumed that Alia's sentiments were similar to his.

"I know," he said, reaching over and putting a hand gently on Alia's shoulder. "We can just delete the data. We don't have to remember that Zero started...everything."

Alia pushed his hand away, getting up and pacing a bit away from Axl. "No, that's exactly what we can't do."

"But why not? He's our friend!"

"Don't you get it?" Alia turned, her voice darkening along with the faint evil growing in her eyes. "We don't know anything about this virus. We don't know why it's dormant in him, or if at any point in time it could rise up and...well, do something. We have to keep a close eye on him."

Axl, horrified, stared at the navigator. "But nothing's happened! I mean, since I've been here Zero's been a great Hunter, and he hates Mavericks more than anyone else! He helped me become a Hunter when everyone else thought I was just a kid!"

"That's just it." Alia's calm was tense. "Since _you've_ been here, nothing happened. But you haven't been here that long, and you weren't here for the worst of it. Years ago, when the space colony incident was going on, Sigma destroyed one of his own forms to spread the virus, and these particles actually strengthened the virus inside of Zero!" Alia started to get more emotional as she went on. "Zero actually fought X so that he wouldn't have to be checked by Lifesaver! We're lucky that he didn't do anything worse."

"You know what I heard? I heard that right after X and Zero fought that Zero saved X from being killed by Sigma!" Axl protested, starting to get angry. "And that's how they found out the location of Sigma and got rid of him! And none of those stupid viruses kept him from saving the world by piloting a shuttle into the space station!"

Alia shook her head. "It was a foolish mistake to send Zero to pilot it. There was a different virus on the colony than on earth, and they merged and worsened in Zero. But Zero _still _didn't report in for a checkup!"

"Because he had to go find Sigma!"

"You still don't get it, do you?" Contempt arose in her. "He endangered everyone by not taking care of himself. He even knew better! During the repliforce incident, Sigma actually told Zero that he was the source of the virus!"

"Because Sigma is _so _trustworthy."

Axl's sarcasm only produced the worst in Alia, and she stubbornly continued her story. "Listen to me! After that was the 'Zero Nightmare' incident - I know you've read about that! Gate actually made a virus from a missing part of Zero, then used it to create his own force of Mavericks to annihilate all the 'inferior' reploids. Ugh...and I defended him!" Lifting a hand to her face, Alia struggled to continue. "Gate was my friend long before I joined the Maverick Hunters. I knew he was unstable person. The Maverick virus only gave him a push. I knew and I didn't do anything about it. No one else did either. And since Signas won't listen to me then it's the same thing all over again, only worse!"

"I can't believe you're saying that!" Axl stood up, ready to storm off. "Zero didn't want any of that to happen! We're his friends, Alia! We need to believe in him!"

"I know who he is," Emotionally spent, Alia's tone withered, though her line persisted. "I know that he didn't want any of this to happen. That doesn't change the fact that he's dangerous. If you delete knowing about Zero's past, it means that if something happened to Zero on a mission to provoke the virus, then a lot of people could be in danger before you realized it."

"Who are you?" Axl said, aghast. "What happened to the Alia I used to know?"

"Whoever this new one is," a new voice entered the conversation as Bass rounded the corner to meet them. "She sure is whiny. And loud. Trying to break Signas' orders while making it look like an accident, huh Alia?"

The girl-bot blushed. "I...I really didn't mean to..."

Bass, however, didn't care, and his attention was already focused on Axl. "Don't delete what you know about Zero. Alia's right, it's just better if you know."

"Don't tell me you're taking her side!"

"Sheesh, kid, I'm not taking sides." Bass rolled his eyes. "Zero doesn't want to be a Maverick, so you have to be aware just in case for his sake, if you're supposed to be his friend. Don't cry about it. Now get going to the Overlord's office. The meeting's about to start."

Forte abruptly shoved his thumb back in the direction of the door, and Axl nodded. As much as Bass resisted the notion of them being family, he sure expected Axl to obey him like a son. It didn't seem to bother Axl. He paused on his way to the door.

"Well, if you put it that way, it makes sense." Axl reluctantly gave in. "It's...just hard."

"Yeah, yeah, get going. Now Alia, if you want you can sit out here and cry, but Signas wants you to show up because you're the only technician that knows about Zero, and Roll might know something important. So decide what you're going to do in the next five minutes."

Axl went inside ahead of Bass, and as the latter robot made it to the door Alia followed along behind.

"Bass..."

He turned around, his face for once unreadable.

"Why do you forgive Zero?" Alia asked. "You should hate him more than anyone. Why?"

Bass blinked, but his demure expression didn't change. "Who said anything about forgiveness? Whining about things doesn't change them."

And the dark robot went in, let the door swing shut behind him. Alia stood numb, only wincing slightly as the door slammed in its frame. Alia looked to the sky, noticing that it had become fully night out, and whatever stars there were in the sky were hidden with the glow of the streetlights and skyscrapers' windows. Alia didn't see any of that light; that light was fake.

_It really is that dark..._ Alia mused, not talking about the sky at all.

She sighed. It was time to go to the meeting.

-t-

Zero never felt more uncomfortable in his life. Sadness he was used to and fear he could ignore, but the simple awkwardness of it all made him skittish - or skittish by his own standards. Thankfully X was with him in Signas' office, and they were sitting to the side in red chairs. This might have been strange for reploids, but it made sense for the human visitors that Commander Signas would have from time to time. Signas was there, and he had pushed his desk aside so that everyone could gather in the chairs he had set out, mismatched because four of them were from storage and were simple, metal things, set in a circle.

Bass was sitting in one of them, idly glancing at the titles of the books on the shelves on the wall opposite him. Roll sat next to him (with X on her other side), probably the reason why he didn't try to look at one of the books. She was very nervous, and somehow sitting next to the only other robot that had survived the apocalypse helped. Roll very badly wanted to grab Bass' hand for support, but, thinking he would object, she only continued to squirm and tap her fingers. She tried starting up a conversation with Axl about his job, and that calmed her for a bit.

Roll had already used the disc to bring her up to date on everything that had happened, he just knew. That meant she knew what devastation the Maverick virus had wrecked on the world. Zero felt sick thinking about it. Roll noticed him staring and looked his direction, but Zero quickly looked to his right. That only made him come into eye contact with Alia, whose frozen face made him shiver inwardly.

_Well, I can stare at the floor, at least._ Zero bitterly thought.

"I suppose we can begin now." Signas said. "I'm sorry if this is a bit too much for you, Roll, but I believe it would be best to get any talk of the robot apocalypse out of the way quickly. I hope everyone has been welcoming to you today."

"Ah, yes, it was fun!" Roll smiled, still nervous. "Everyone was so nice to me, and X is so popular! I feel like a celebrity just hanging out with him."

X grinned, but Roll's anxiety hadn't escaped him. "Roll, if you want to do this later, we can. There's no rush. I understand if you're not eager to talk about it."

"If it's all that bad." Bass mentioned. "You can just download the data into a computer or something."

"Oh, come on." Roll said, borderline impatiently. "Look, I've been through enough that you don't need to be afraid for me. It's not that bad. After all, I was alone for ten years defending the earth after the apocalypse by myself, so I'm not going to cry or something."

Roll bit her lip, not feeling half as serious as she sounded.

"Wait, you?" Bass wasn't sure if he wanted to laugh or scoff. "Did you smack people with brooms?"

"Shut up." Roll playfully punched his shoulder. "Crystal Man left me better upgrades than that. You saw the energy sword."

"Oh yeah...'Chris Tillman'." Bass recalled the discovery of the secret weapon upgrades the shiny Wily-bot had inexplicably made for Roll. No one had ever figured out why

"I was lucky that the secret basement of the laboratory survived." Roll shuddered as images of a violent robot tearing down the beams of the upper floor down on her head. "And I was lucky that Snake Man survived. He helped me with the upgrades and found parts from Rock, Blues, and Bass so that I could defeat Epidemic Man."

"You beat Epidemic Man?" Bass' eye twitched a bit in jealousy, though Roll didn't notice (everyone else certainly did). "How?"

"Again, with Snake Man's help." Roll sniffed, quieting. No matter how much she pretended to be strong, this part always hurt. "Epidemic Man...well, Snake Man didn't make it. Though technically, I didn't make it either. I had a very bad power leak. When I reactivated a month later, I didn't remember anything - not who I was or where I came from. I guess it's like you said, Bass, I was plugged into my secondary hard drive, but my first got disconnected. I was missing several personality settings too. Rodney did the best he could repairing me, but he was better at hardware robotics, not software or CPUs."

"Who is Rodney?" X asked.

"Rodney Cain. He was the oldest son of Nikola Cain." Roll answered. "He lived, and he knew enough about robotics to get me in pretty good shape."

"This Cain fellow was the one Wily used to spread the various viruses during the apocalypse, right?" Signas asked, remembering some of the things that he had learned from Bass. "And it was his robot masters used for the scheme?"

"That's right. Both of his sons lived, but Klaus didn't know anything about robotics."

"Wow, I can't believe you were a hero too, Roll!" Axl said. "What kind of bad guys did you fight?"

"Bad guys?" Roll questioned. "I don't know that you can really compare what I did to what Rock did, and to what the Hunters do now. They fought, but you have to remember that we were just through the worst devastation that earth's ever been through. Not even bad guys were doing well. I spent most of the time rebuilding homes and doing some security work for government projects. There were some people who wanted to take advantage of the world's troubles, but since they didn't trust me to defend against humans, I only had to fight if people used mechaniloids for an army. It was pretty scary for a while because a couple bad nations got hold of some mechaniloids and I had to stop them. But there were no Wilys - nobody did any large scale wars. It just wasn't possible."

"What was it like with some of your personality AI missing?" Alia asked, very interested. "Could you operate well without it?"

"Apparently, yes. Robot's personalities do change with experience, and I was missing all of that, as well as some of my core personality." Roll explained. "I had some emotion, but I was...really cold all the time. And kind of mean."

"I meant to ask this earlier, but...what happened to Kalinka?" Bass asked, preparing himself for some evil answer. "Did you ever see her again?"

"Actually, I did!" Roll sounded slightly more optimistic. "She was...well, sad. All the worst things happened to her, I mean, after her father and husband died how could she be happy? I did see her once after Rodney fixed me, because I still had my own face, and she wanted to see if I was still Roll..." Roll shuffled her feet under the chair. "But since I didn't have my memories, they just concluded that 'Proto Bot' was made from Light-bot pieces, including mine. I saw her only a couple of times after that. She actually became something of a leader after three years, and I had to guard her once when she led a meeting of the Western Remnant. That's what they called the survivors on the coast. And I got to see her baby!"

Roll squealed and brightened, lifting her hands over her mouth as she laughed. "Aw, she had such a cute little boy! Little Mikhail was a darling, but he was so quiet all the time. Kalinka got married again to Dr. Peterson - you saw him once, Bass. Don't you remember?"

Bass thought back, contorting his face. "Ugh, yeah. That day sucked. That was when I had to tell Rock about Proto Man dying."

The girl-bot in red shuddered slightly, and Bass instantly regretted mentioning it. But Roll managed to stiffen, and she sat up straight. "I told you, I'm stronger than before. I'm not going to cry over everything again."

She fooled no one, and X grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently.

"This may be the most difficult part to tell," Signas said. "But how exactly did the apocalypse end? We know what Bass has told us, but he did not see it through to its end."

"Yes, that's right." Roll sighed. "Okay, Bass, what's the last thing you remember?"

"I backed up my memory right before I went to fight Algorhythm Man." Bass got tense, clenching one of his fists. "Please tell me I didn't get killed by that idiot."

Roll gritted her teeth, apologetically going on. "Well..._technically_ it wasn't him that got you..."

"Urgh!" Bass hissed, having to try his hardest not to say his most favorite (his most disgusting) expletives. His eyes bulged painfully and his fangs bit deep into his bottom lip. "Nrrrgh! GRRRNN!"

This restrained display of frustration was almost humorous enough to make Roll's explanation easier to say, and her lips twisted into a lopsided half-smile for half a second before fading out. "You got that teleportation upgrade from Crystal Bot that allowed you to teleport other robots as well as yourself, and you used it to get Algorhythm Man away from Monstropolis and into the desert. The bonus was that the bomber planes he had sent would go after you rather than dropping their nukes on Monstropolis. But Dr. Wily had made Algorhythm Man so strong that he couldn't be defeated quickly, and he hacked into and destroyed your teleporter. So you used the energy crystals in your arms to create death spikes at just the right time, killing Algorhythm Man and yourself."

Roll took a deep breath. "The plan was that Crystal Bot would use her last outer teleporter device to get you out of there once Algorhythm Man was gone. Even then...he was still alive enough to incapacitate Sonata's teleporter, and you two were trapped. She brought you into an abandoned mine, and that was the last I saw of either of you." She glanced with sympathy at Bass, who brooded silently. She leaned forward, sincerity in her innocent expression. "Bass, you did a good job. A lot more people would have died if you hadn't drawn away the nuclear warheads. The area you brought them to was perfect, because there was nothing there already and the radiation faded away fast. No one's water supplies were tainted. That alone saved at least southern California."

Forte was still silent, uncertain. He had picked that location simply because he knew it, not because it would help anyone. He didn't even know that it was perfect for that very thing. But it was something he had done, something good.

Something he had not failed.

Bass grinned. "It takes a _nuke_ to kill me? Heh...I like that. Not bad at all."

"You're still alive, so it must take more than that!" Axl exclaimed, more happy than ever to be based from him.

"You're right." Bass turned to Signas, displaying his fangs in a merry grin. "Hear that? You're never going to get rid of me."

"And I had already taken the time to purchase nuclear weaponry from the black market." Signas said with a jovial shimmer in his eyes, the only part of his face not completely serious. "It's very expensive, you know."

Bass snorted and leaned back in his chair smugly.

"You're absolutely horrible." X too laughed.

Zero was quiet. He didn't join in the jovial manner of the others. It was hard for him. All of this talk only delayed learning the truth about himself. Had he really been a part of the end of the optimistic age of robotics? Had he really destroyed Mega Man? Roll had been evading the point. Was that on purpose or the conversation just ended up that way? Zero rested his chin on his hands, letting some of his fingers hide his frowning lips.

"What happened after that?" Bass slowly asked, showing he knew how painful the answer might be as he weighed down the conversation.

"You were there for most of it." Roll reached again for her brother's hand before continuing. "After that day Rock sent a challenge to Epidemic Man, because that was the last Cain-bot left. And then...I saw on the computer...when Rock died."

"Wait, what?" Zero almost jumped up. "You didn't recognise me when you met me...I didn't..."

Roll stared at Zero, completely confused. "Of course you didn't. You weren't even there. I never saw you at all, not even after the apocalypse was over. Proto Man destroyed your activation device."

Zero's hateful glance zoomed ever to Bass, narrowing. X's also went that same direction, likewise full of hatred.

"That was the remote activation device." Bass interjected, not about to let Zero off the hook that easily. "That didn't mean they couldn't activate him where he was."

"Oh, I guess so." Roll answered, tapping a finger against her chin as she thought about it. "But I still didn't see him."

"Epidemic Man didn't have a plasma sword!"

"Yes he did..." Roll contradicted, depression starting to overwhelm her. "He had it the whole time, but never used it just so that Rock wouldn't see it coming."

"But he can't do that! _That's cheating_!" Bass, snarling, jumped out of his seat. "That doesn't _**count**_!"

"Sad you didn't think of it first?" X wrinkled his nose, getting more than tired of this behavior. "Sit down."

It was only then that X noticed Roll desperately making the "kill gesture" behind him, but by then it was too late.

"Listen, you," Bass hissed, shoving a finger in X's face. "When I fought Rock, it was always fair. I didn't sneak up on him, sabotage him, or hold anybody hostage. It was a contest of _strength_. You can think about me whatever you want, but I _always_ fought fair!"

It hit Zero like a sledgehammer, leaving him almost faint: he hadn't killed Rock. The relief within him battled against his hatred. How dare Bass accuse him on such scanty evidence! How could he say that he had murdered X's own brother? At the same time, he felt so free. The past hurt so much that Zero was afraid to look at it, because every time he did he found something new and terrifying about himself. This time was the exception: he was free and clear of the charge, perfectly innocent. Zero found himself assaulted by the urge to be alone. Somehow other people were now suffocating. He had to escape.

"Zero?" Roll's innocent little voice broke in through the turmoil like a stealthy thief. "Are you okay?"

He didn't want to answer. Without a word he got up and went for the door in the fastest pace that he could manage without running. He kept up the pace for several hallways, ignoring any Hunter he passed. Without consciously acknowledging it, Zero headed for the only place he knew he could be alone.

The others stared at the door, watching stunned as Zero abruptly departed. X was the first one to react, breaking the silence.

"Look what you did!" he snapped, guessing correctly what was going on with his friend.

Bass groaned and smacked his forehead. "I'll get this..."

Bass left before anyone could object, hastily heading in the direction of Zero's echoing footsteps (and wonder what in the world he was doing). Zero wasn't running, but Bass had to do so if he wanted to keep up with his far longer legged sibling. Soon enough, Bass figured out where the red robot was going. It was just a small room that stored the janitor mechaniloids, and he knew that even this late most of them would be out cleaning.

Some yards ahead, Zero hurriedly opened the door. He rushed inside, barely remembering to shut the door carefully before it slammed. Relaxing only slightly, Zero ignored the flying, sweeping, and crawling bots and went over to the window, leaning on the sill with his face in his hands. He stayed there, exhaling slowly.

The door opened again, and Zero cringed. Couldn't he have a moment's peace?

"Zero..."

Bass seemed more irritated to be there than Zero was. The dark robot entered, somewhat angry as he sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck. He, somewhere in that arrogant clump of circuitry he called a mind, knew that what he had done was wrong. The hard part was forcing the rest of him to realize this, but words nonetheless fought their way for an exit.

"Look, Zero..." Much to Zero's chagrin, Bass approached. "...I'm...gah. Why am I doing this? Look, I'm sorry I blamed you for Rock's death, okay? Now stop crying about it! I mean...it's hard for me not to be a bastard when I was built by one."

Zero's shoulders shook, and Bass cringed. _He's really crying?_

But no. When Zero turned towards his brother, pulling his hand away from his face, Forte could see that he was laughing. It was a strange laughter, not one entirely happy, and yet not devoid of the same either. Tears might have welled up in Zero's wavering lids if he were human, but as it were, he was balancing on the edge of hard grief and a genuine joy.

"I know that..." Zero laughed again, fighting away the darkness as he lifted his eyes. "Thank you, Bass, for blaming me. It's nice to know that of all the things I'm guilty of...there's one case where I'm innocent..."

Bass was dumbfounded. Zero settled back on the window ledge, and back into his melancholy. He quietly stared out the window, and for a moment it seemed that his face looked noble for once, despite the very evident features of their creator. Bass frowned. He didn't understand Zero at all, and from the way he stood there, lips contorted in disgusted confusion, it was very evident. And they were supposed to be related?

Zero looked again at Bass, smiling again, his bittersweet almost-not-a-smile. "Go away."

"Fine." Bass threw up his hands. "You're nuts."

"Hmm." was Zero's only acknowledgement, and he returned to his deep, dark musings and misgivings. Bass, fed up, just exited and left Zero to his meditation. He almost kept walking, but he realized that he wasn't eager to get back to the others. They would want to know what was going on, and Bass was surprised that X hadn't followed him. As Bass stood there, the part of his mind that constantly knew better than him started to speak up again, telling him the things he didn't want to notice about Zero. In disgust, Forte straightened, grimaced, and headed for the others, even more irritated than before. He need to get away from his thoughts.

They made him realize that he understood Zero, and that just would not do.

\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- Whee! An update! Sorry it took so long, but this chapter needed rewrites. Also, it's long and plotwise can't be separated.

- I sure hope y'all played X5 and X6 recently, otherwise a lot of the Alia - Axl conversation won't make any sense.

- I know y'all had a lot of questions in the review for me, particularly Gabigirl, but some of them will be answered in the story. For those that won't, here we go. No, Bass can't become a reploid. The main difference between oldstyle bots and reploids is their minds, and someone with an older mind processes information in a much more simple manner than reploids do. Trying to convert any oldstyle-bot into the new format would only result in information damage or possibly permanent data-death. The upgrades Alia referred to in the last chapter were just physical ones so that Bass would be better able to handle Mavericks without tearing up his innards every time. Bass has good armor, hacking skills, and battle AI, but much of his physical innards are weaker and outdated. And also, his shots are weaker than Mega Man's, and since reploids often have more powerful weapons than Mega Man, Bass is really lucky he knows martial arts and has ridiculous armor. Roll is also not a reploid. While her new mind has an advanced processor, she's still first generation.

- Bass calls Zero girly because he can. It's partly to annoy him, and partly because he's used to it. The only reason he's immune to the Maverick virus is because he's not a reploid, and the virus was designed by Wily to go after X (at which it failed). First generation robots are too simple to get it, and that includes Roll, which is why the data-kill virus was necessary for Wily during the apocalypse. Or so I'll say for the purposes of this story.

- Mavericks:

Shadow Fox777

=====September Dusk Hound

**"All tresspassers will be eaten."**

September (or Septy as his friends call him - yeah, he has no friends) is a Maverick that lives alone in a foggy swamp. He's very crazy, but so long as people leave him alone he generally stays in his territory, surprisingly quiet for a Maverick. He is extremely vicious, and his teeth alone are frightening. He likes to hide in the swamp and stare at anyone who enters, then tear them apart. Besides his teeth and claws, September has no weapons, and he doesn't need any. Only the stupid lurk in the September Swamp...oh, and the Maverick Hunters. The player that beats him gets Dusk Jaw, a sword with hideous, jagged teeth on it that rips through Maverick's like there's no tomorrow.

Very easy to come up with. Shadow went to dusk, fox went to hound, and 777 went to September.

Gabigirl

=====Gossamer Femme

**"I will make you pretty!"**

Femme is a fairy Maverick, and she likes to wear bright orange and shimmering green. She hates the Hunters, and will do whatever it takes to make the earth "pretty" again, which in her mind includes blasting holes in buildings and spray-painting random things pink. Goss has three attacks. One is fairy dust, which drains the player of power as she sprinkles or blows it. Another is the gossamer shot, which traps players to the wall or floor. The last is a giant laser she generates from her hands. This is the Gossamer Cannon, which the player gains when they beat her.

"Gabi" is a cloth they make in Eritrea and Ethiopia, so I just looked for cloths until I got to gossamer. Femme is of course woman.

Symphonic Sweet

=====Melodious Paragon

**"Don't you like my voice?"**

Paragon, a parrot Maverick, used to be the greatest singer of the world, until she became a Maverick. Now her songs are so piercing that they disrupt reploid's operations. Besides this attack, Symphonic also attacks with her claws, dragging the player to thorns. She also can rip bits of armor off the player, making him take more damage with each attack. The player that beats her gets the Melodious Song, which is a radio wave shot. It bounces off walls and is extremely spammable, but it's not the strongest weapon out there.

This one was also easy, except "paragon" means more like "the perfect example of" rather than "sweet".


	8. Sibling Rivalry

Things were getting pretty good for Bass. He was getting more and more used to being in a new enviroment, finding a place for himself amongst the Hunters and dealing with his past. One of the very first things Bass did once Roll was complete was to see what he could do about getting the patent back from Miyamoto Mechanics for his endurance armor (which they called Armor SC12). Unfortunately, one of the problems with this was that the armor had been made by Crystal Bot, not him. Being a robot, Bass had few rights, and that would still be a problem even if Crystal had written a will. Luckily for him, the Maverick Hunter attorneys were top notch, and Miyamoto wasn't interested in a long, drawn out lawsuit, during which time the armor's production would surely be halted. So a settlement was arranged, and Bass ended up with the right to produce the armor himself, provided that the didn't sell it. Bass could give it away, if he liked, but with Armor SC12's expensive manufacturing process he wouldn't be able to make much in the long run. Of course, Bass only wanted to have this armor for himself, so he was fine with that.

Money was beginning to prove a problem for him. In the past Forte never bothered about cash. With Wily he stole what he wanted, so cash was irrelevant, and in his good guy days Crystal always sold her energy crystals or built things for money. There had been no need for him to even think about finances. Not so any longer: now he had to work and the economy wasn't particularly great either.

Forte got to work on that immediately. His first order of business was to prove to the publisher that he had been the one to write Robotics: Futile Questions for the Mechanical Future. That set him up for a follow up philosophy book that would discuss the first book in depth and how the expectations of it had either come to pass or not. The only problem was Bass' author name. Going by "Ben Foster" again wasn't really a option, particularly because he didn't want to be known as a robot or just be a human that coincidentally happened to have the same name. This annoyed Bass, as he sort of liked it. Roll suggested "T.B. Foster".

**"What does the T.B. stand for?" Bass asked.**

**Roll winked. "It stands for 'The Best', of course!"**

Naturally, Bass wasn't going to say no to that.

Bass did join the Hunters, and finished the test as a B rank, barely. The trouble was, as he began to do missions, he began to see exactly how lucky he had been in his fight against the first Mavericks he had encountered. His purple buster was very sad, and even with the double crystal busters Bass's attacks were barely mediocre in the fights against renegade robots. If he was close enough, the sheer density of his armor allowed him great, powerful punches and kicks, but this still left him vulnerable to swords, particularly plasma or energy ones.

**"You're better off throwing me at them!" Bass complained.**

**X only smirked. "Don't tempt me."**

Signas was very clever. He chose to send Bass on missions where he would have technical work to do, letting the other members of the team fight for him. Other times, he sent Bass on bodyguard missions, a side service of the Maverick Hunters. As much as this bruised Bass' ego, he made decent tips at it. He was still sent on some of the harsher missions, and Bass gained a reputation amongst Mavericks and Hunters alike for ripping off the limbs of his enemies. He and Alia spent hours going over technologies to help him find better weaponry.

Bass didn't spend all of his time fighting or trying to make money. The robot museum in Giga City needed tending to; they knew little about past, and Bass decided he was going to pay back the zenny they spent on him with information. Aengus R was delighted to see him operational and relentlessly asked all kinds of questions. This annoyed Bass to no small degree, so the next time he brought Roll and let "little miss social" deal with it. Both of the first generation robots donated their memories to the museum, and in the end Aengus made back plenty more than a million zenny from it; he was the one who heard firsthand the stories of the past from those who had been there, and people from all over came to Giga City, boosting the economy significantly.

From this success, Forte decided he would write a series of histories on the past. Between earning money and fighting alongside Axl, Bass couldn't be happier. Things were really starting to go well for him.

_Well, good for Bass. I'm glad __**he **__can get everything he wants... _Bitter, Zero refrained from commenting aloud. _Bass...that's all people talk about now. Except when they're talking about Forte._

Zero knew it wasn't quite true. Plenty of gossip was going around about both of the "brothers", though Zero avoided dwelling on what they said about himself. Zero gruffly walked off to Restore Room A1, where reploids would go to rest, have their memories backed up, and have their minds scanned for viruses. Most reploids just called this "sleep". He opened the door. Each reploid had their own capsule to rest in, and other than the computer panels beside these, there was nothing else to the complex. Not risking security, this was an interior room, so no windows. Zero didn't care about that. He just approached his capsule and mindlessly pressed a few keys before pressing a green button on the side. It opened with a _shffft_.

Zero knew it had been several hours since his last rest, and he had just spent over fourteen hours fighting miscellaneous missions against whatever Mavericks he could. It was high time he deactivated for a while. He ran his hands over his face. But the more he stared at the empty capsule, the more he didn't want to get in. He was restless. More than that, as dark as his waking musings had been, he was in control of them. He could ignore his subconscious and focus on an activity. His dreams however, did not let him go. Any malevolence his waking mind could conjure paled in comparison to the ghastly midnights his nightmares forced upon him. He couldn't bare to see that aged face, even one more time...

Speaking of midnight, his chronometer told Zero the time: 11:54.

Zero impatiently smacked his hand against the button, walking off as it shut behind him. He didn't need sleep. Robots could go without it for plenty of time - it wasn't even real sleep anyway. Zero left the room and headed for the navigation office. He was just fine; why not hunt a few more Mavericks?

The red hero strode through the hallways, and if any reploids had been there to see him, none would have been able to guess the level of his inward turmoil. Zero kept it very well hidden from himself, much more everyone else. His pace was as confident and steady as it had ever been, decieving most people into thinking that he was fine.

He wasn't. Whatever acceptance Zero had managed to develop for his brother had soured, fading. Bass' presense had changed everything for him. Before then, Zero had been an anonymous robot, an enigma from who knows when and created by a stranger. The common Hunter only saw a loyal friend. And then Bass had to come in, and now Zero was a reprogrammed bad guy, a potential danger. Most of the Hunters were able to look past this, but recruiting levels were at an all time low. Everyone whispered about Zero and about why he had been built. From the way they silenced when Zero passed them, they could only be talking about one thing.

That fateful day when Axl had brought Bass back to Hunter HQ, Axl had been very excited and told everyone he knew that Bass was back, and who could really blame him? It was the robot he was designed after, and a first generation besides. Who could have guessed he would attack Zero right off and know everything about him? Bass himself came up with the only passable reason, though even that admitted far more than Zero liked. But he had to be grateful for what he could. At least Bass didn't mention the virus.

**"He was built to kill me, Rock, and X." If Zero was in the room, this was the part where Bass would turn and give Zero an ugly sneer. "But he failed at all three because he **_**sucks**_**."**

That instantly reminded him of the one thing he was grateful for about Bass: he didn't have to pretend he was happy about Bass being there. Gruff and self-centered, Bass never seemed to miss an opportunity to make cheap insults about him or criticize his armor or hair. Zero didn't care that much about defending his design (what did he know about that sort of thing?), but it was wearing at his patience. That, along with his boasting about his own fighting skills, made Bass' presense for extended periods of time intolerable. He didn't suspect that Bass was being intentionally malicious, but that almost made it worse. Conflicts can be dealt with, but changing someone's attitudes are quite another.

Zero inwardly applauded Commander Signas. His indefinite source of patience was impressive. Not once did Bass make Signas lose his temper, and the Commander even got Bass to stop calling him an evil overlord. Signas had to maintain discipline, and that sort of nickname didn't help.

_Signas is a saint. I wish the Catholic Church recognised robots for it._

Zero's metal feet sent scattering echoes through the empty hall. He guessed a lot of the Hunters were on duty. The 103rd squad was also in training, and their restore rooms were near this section of their HQ. Thinking of that kept him from realizing that much of his annoyance about Bass had to do with everyone else, rather than him. Now that they knew about Dr. Wily, his creator (Zero cringed again at the thought), many Hunters just stared with their blank eyes, obviously thinking of how horrible it would be if the Hunters hadn't reprogrammed him a long time ago. Zero didn't like to be looked at this way. Fortunately, over the years he had developed a selective attention span. It was surprisingly easy to ignore them. That didn't mean he wanted to have to ignore them. He missed being acknowledged for the good he had done, not the evil purpose that was his first designation. It wasn't about being admired; Zero just wanted to belong.

And Axl. Axl didn't hate him, that was obvious. But at the same time, Axl was very impulsive. He would do and say things without realizing the consequences. And once he had heard the truth about Zero, Axl's first impulse was to immediately forgive and forget everything. But over the past weeks, Axl had started thinking more about the Red Alert team. They were like his family, and without the Maverick Virus, there would have been no need to destroy them. The young Hunter didn't want to blame Zero for their deaths, but every time Zero had a mission with him, he could see in Axl's face the inevitable ponderings. Axl didn't have much control over his mind or emotions, and as much as he tried to smile, there was always a frown behind it.

Other than that, Axl simply wasn't around that much any more. As much as Axl also admired X, he always tagged around Zero, as they had been closer when the youngest Hunter joined them. But now he was Bass' disciple, following him not unlike the "puppy" that he had once been for Zero. But that wasn't too bad. Why wouldn't Axl want to know more about the robot he was based on? They had similar fighting styles as well, so it was only natural. If only the times when Zero did see Axl weren't tainted.

Alia was the worst. Axl's shunning was unintentional, but Alia outright scorned Zero. She always made a fuss about upgrading Bass or about technology when the two worked in the lab, especially if Zero happened to walk by. She made a point of laughing harder at his stupid jokes, listening more carefully to whatever topic Bass was going on about, or complimenting extravagantly as Bass learned more about modern technology.

_And of course Bass is too much of an ego maniac to notice. _

They didn't always get along though. Alia wasn't the sort of person that tolerated too much of Bass' arrogance, or anybody's, really. In what would prove to be a very awkward moment, Zero had found himself in the middle of an argument between the two.

_**Hmm? What's this?**_** Zero reached on the top of the navigation computer, pulling out a barely noticable disc. The label on it read Buster TL23, and it was in Alia's handwriting. Zero avoided sighing. **_**I guess I better bring this back to the lab.**_

**Zero paused at the doors once he reached them. **_**Shouting?**_

**"After everything that's happened?" That was Alia. "I need my data to continue my experiments! You can't do this to me!"**

**"Hey look, you know what you have to do to get it back." Forte, acting casual, was making an obvious effort to keep control, but the yelling wasn't doing any good. "If you don't, well, it was dumb of you not to make back ups."**

**"That **_**was**_** my back up! You deleted the file from my computer!"**

**"And whose fault is that?"**

_**"Yours!"**_

**Zero entered to find a very flustered navigator and a moderately serene Bass (he seemed to have control in the argument) engaged in some kind of staredown. Reluctant as he was to stay, Zero just wanted to hand the disc back and get it over with. He went over and handed the disc to Alia.**

**"Here, is this yours?"**

**"Oh!" Alia started as she saw the disc, and she tentatively took it from Zero. "...Uh, thanks..."**

**"What?" **

**Bass snapped and cursed. Zero knew it had to be the data that they had been fighting about. But surprisingly, Bass didn't seem mad at him for returning it. He was mad at Alia. Frustrated, he flicked his hand at Zero as he glared at her, and she...was that guilt? This was getting weird. **

**Zero stood there as the silence persisted. "I don't know what you two are talking about, but leave me out of it."**

**And Zero left, biting his lip and grimacing. Man, that was awkward!**

Actually, basically any time with Alia was awkward. Every time Zero was near her, all he could think about was the many lives the Maverick Virus had changed for the worse. Her dark gaze never let him forget. If only it hadn't been for him, there would be peace. And if X was nearby, being gloomy over the war (bless him, he never once blamed Zero), then Alia's cold stare fell on him. Even if he didn't look, he could still feel it. So he always made reasons to avoid her, and if he had to be in her presense, he said as little as possible.

But why did he blame her? Any of the Hunters would have acted the same way if they knew that the Maverick Virus was truly the Zero Virus. X was a good friend, and Axl was kindhearted, but how would anyone else react to the news? Zero was not particularly social, and he had always had more admirers than friends over the years. They wouldn't act any different from Alia if they knew the truth, and their admiration would turn to shock and scorn. Humans had died and reploids had been destroyed because of him, too many to count. He didn't deserve any different.

X was still his best friend, and so far the only person who never held his past against him, even unintentionally. But he was spending so much time with Roll now. Zero smiled as he remembered that she too cared little about his origins. He was hesitant to be close to her, however. As wonderful as Roll was, there was something about her brightness that disquieted him. There was no real reason for it. Zero could only guess that when there was so much darkness writhing about and conflicting inside of him, he somehow couldn't stand up to cheerfulness. So Zero let those two hang out together. He could have easily joined them in anything they did, as Roll made few distinctions between him and her brother, but his heart wasn't in it.

The trouble with that was, when Zero hung out with X, he generally always let X decide what they were doing, whether it was playing cards or talking to some new recruits about work. Alone, Zero didn't know what to do with himself.

Now, all these thoughts are easy to say and describe, but had anyone asked Zero, he wouldn't have been able to explain it all himself that clearly. All the issues were muddled in his mind, and besides that he didn't care to think through his pain - he wanted to drown it. And that was why he was heading back on his fifteenth mission that week, and it was only Wednesday night.

Layer, now she had been a real blessing, a true friend. Zero felt especially lucky that she was his navigator, rather than someone else. He had wanted work, and she would find it for him. Every time he came to the command center, Zero would arrive and see that Layer had found mission after mission for him. She never questioned him or judged him, but simply told him the situation and wished him luck. He could see the worry in her eyes as he left more and more often, but if he wanted to go out again, Layer only handed him his subtank.

Zero had to wonder why he never really noticed Layer's kindness before. Hadn't she always done her best for him? But every time he took the teleporter out, he would glance back at her and wonder if she would still be his friend if she knew about the Maverick virus. Zero didn't let himself question it for long. She was his friend now, and he wasn't going to jeopardize it.

So the red Hunter opened the door to the operations room, where Palette was standing at Layer's station, and they were talking like always - they were the epitome of best friends. And Zero could see why Palette was Axl's navigator: she was just as chirpy as him.

"Oh hey, Zero!" Palette waved, acting as if she hadn't seen him twice already that day. "How are you?"

"Fine." he answered. "Isn't it the end of your shift?"

"Yes it is. I was just about to go out dancing with some of the Hunters. You wanna come?"

Zero gave a sideways smile. "No, thank you."

Palette flung a hand in the air, feigning disdain. "Whatever! You never come with us!"

"I can't dance."

"If you can fight, you can dance!" she scoffed, then laughed. "You have fun, Zero!"

Palette said her cheerful goodbye to Layer before leaving, happily skipping along to the door as she exited. Zero turned to Layer, wondering why in the world her creator designed her with her purple bangs hanging over her eyes. But that didn't stop her from being a good navigator, and her personalized station with a chair, commset, and wrap-around desk with a large monitor and various computer systems had been customized specifically for her.

"Alright, where am I going now?" Zero asked. "Are there pirate Mavericks to deal with in the ocean? Business in America? Robbers?"

Layer sighed. "You're not going anywhere."

Zero raised his eyebrow, looking like he wasn't wondering if Alia had told Layer about the virus.

"You've been working yourself to death for the past two weeks, Zero." Layer explained, nervously rubbing her fingers together. "I...I can't be responsible for something like that. I mean, you outrank me, and if you wanted to you can order me to send you out, but you haven't been keeping yourself maintained. You spend so much time fighting now...it's not like you."

_Is it that obvious?_ Zero mused. _Or is Layer simply perceptive?_

Layer was a navigator, and it was her job to make sure that the Hunters she watched were in good condition. She was built to know if they needed work. Zero understood, and without a word he turned away to the door. Maybe he had been too rough on himself. But it was the best distraction...

"Wait, Zero please..."

The tall Hunter turned back. Layer was standing there, up from her seat, looking at him with the very pity Zero dreaded. She took only two steps towards him, too nervous to come any closer.

"Look, Zero...I want to tell you something." Layer had a hard time not staring at the floor as she spoke. "This is something I've never told anyone, and in fact Signas is the only one who knows about it. I...was designed as a cyber thief by my creators."

Layer looked up at Zero with hesitation and fear, her eye for once being visible from under her purple hair. Zero didn't move, but there was no judgement in his expression.

"It's not something I like to think about." Layer went on. "But before the Hunters reprogrammed me, I was responsible for stealing thirteen million zenny in a time of only two years."

The girl-bot dared to come closer, and she placed a hand on Zero's arm. "Zero...please...you're not the only robot with a dark past. You've always been sort of...reclusive but ever since Bass got here it's only been getting worse. You're not the evil robot your creator meant you to be. You've overcome all of that...just like me. You don't need to be afraid of that past anymore. That's over now, and you're a wonderful person. Please...just let go."

Her eyes pleaded with him, begging him to say something. But after all that, Zero just felt angry. Why in the world was Layer comparing herself to him? They weren't anything alike. And what was a mere thirteen million to all the death and damage caused by the Mavericks? Suddenly the urge rose up on its own to tell her everything about himself - the entire truth about the "Sigma" Virus. It was on the edges of his lips, ready to leap into the air and make itself known. And then Layer would see that they were nothing alike. She was a normal reploid, and he was a curse.

And she would stop being his friend. Surely as soon as he told her everything, she would hate him just as much as Alia did. More than anything else, Zero did not want that.

"I can't..." was all Zero said. It was a response to his own thoughts, not Layer's request, though it might as well have been. Zero gently pushed away her hand and went for the door, departing without revealing any of the sullen thoughts that coursed through his mental data.

"I don't think of you any differently now than I did before." Layer said suddenly.

Zero only paused. It was difficult for him to keep his thoughts as only thoughts instead of saying them directly to his navigator.

_You would if you knew the truth about me..._

And Zero left. He sighed once the door was securely closed behind him. So he couldn't go out and take out his stresses on the the Mavericks. That meant he was alone, trapped there with his thoughts. He'd have to find something to do. Sleep was out of the question. Nights like these he would have his dreams, terrifying ones of his old master...Dr. Wily. It felt weird to give the man a name, but the nightmares haunted him no less. It was just a simple, human name. One mention of it off-hand now brought Zero back into the darkness

But if Layer wanted him to have a tune-up, then he grudgingly admitted that he probably needed it. Someone would be working in the tech lab, even in the late hours of the night. They could check his vitals. For a robot working as a Maverick Hunter, there was no end to the the upgrading and maintenance that needed to be done. Zero headed for the lab, hoping that it wasn't Alia's turn to work that night. He wasn't up to seeing her glance over at the door to see who it was, and then wither once she noticed it was Zero.

Zero was going at a rather slow place, and it wasn't long before he heard a strange sound. It was singing. A male voice, but a soft one, as if the singer was absentmindedly going on, not wanting to be heard. It was a Korean song, as Zero's language database told him. The red Hunter didn't recognise the particular tune that it was, but it sounded nice. He peeked through the door, opening it silently (a skill he was particularly good at).

_Bass?_

He curiously watched as his brother moved from the various computers on the walls to a portable energy booster which lay on a repair table. Bass had taken the armor panel from his right buster and was tinkering with his buster's output modulators. Zero told himself that he shouldn't be surprised. Bass stopped singing as he stared at the computer monitor, narrowing his brow in deep concentration - and looking very grumpy as he did so.

"Either tell me what you want or go the hell away."

Zero started. "You saw me?"

Bass turned to face his brother, rolling his eyes. "I really hope you weren't trying to stay hidden. You're so obvious. Now either do whatever you need to here or go away. Don't just stand there staring at me. I'm not _that _interesting."

Zero looked down one of the dark hallways, noticing only the pale light coming in from the moon as it struck through the windows. There was nothing else for him to do, so he just entered the lab. Bass had already gone back to work, and he was poking his screwdriver uncertainly at his own buster. Zero sat down in a nearby chair, watching.

"What are you doing?" Zero dared starting up a conversation with the irritating dark robot.

"Trying to figure out how much power my busters can stand." Bass spared an evil glance so that Zero would be absolutely certain that he was being a distraction. "These dang pea shooters are driving me nuts!"

"I'm surprised that you managed to live this long with those things." Zero commented. "Most Mavericks have much more powerful weaponry. You're very lucky."

Zero looked up and frowned. Bass had manipulated his visage into the perfect evil mask: his eyes narrowed, glinting with hatred, while at the same time, one eyebrow lifted, twitching. His nose wrinkled in complete disgust, and his lips parted just far enough to reveal the sharp points of his fangs.

Zero rolled his eyes. "It's a compliment, okay?"

"Don't you have anything better to do than annoy me?" Bass returned to his work, grabbing some pliers. He pulled some wires out of the booster, preparing to hook it up. "I've got to do some tricky wiring so I can hook up this power booster and figure out exactly how far I can go with this, and -"

Immediately the red reploid grabbed Bass' arm and took it away from the booster. "You're hooking up the wrong wire. If you hook the booster to the that section then you'll fry your innards and explode. Don't you know that?"

Bass snatched his arm away and hissed. "I know! That's why I took down the power level!"

Zero tapped on the nearest computer display, and Bass cringed once he saw the numbers. Zero was right.

"So, exactly how much of Roll did _you _build?" Zero folded his arms. "Not quite as good as you think you are, huh?"

Forte's face puckered with the force of 100 lemons. _"Shut up."_

"That's what I thought."

"Look, why are you even in here, anyway?" Bass snapped.

That was a good question, and for some reason Zero answered it honestly. "I couldn't sleep."

"Sleep?" Bass retorted as he went over to recrunch his numbers. "You reploids are lame. Robots shouldn't sleep. That's like the number one benefit of having one."

"You're still thinking in terms of robot ownership." Zero said. "Besides, the 'sleep' we go through is because we're too powerful to operate indefinitely without periods of rest. Unlike you."

"So if you can't sleep, that means you're getting weaker, right?"

The ponytailed bot shook his head. "That has nothing to do with it. I keep having these dreams..."

He instantly regretted saying that, and he slammed his mouth shut. Zero very rarely mentioned anything personal if he could help it, and when he did it was just to X. But he hadn't had the chance to spend time with X for a while, and now it came out on his own. Zero, on edge, began to expect more of Bass' inane teasing. Surely he'd have something nasty to say about Zero's nightmares.

But he didn't.

"Dreams?" Forte frowned in thought as he continued messing with his machinery. "Dr. Light explained that to me when he was talking about X once. He says robots with X components - reploids, basically - have two sets of memories, and one is related to something called emotional synapsis. A normal robot can delete something and forget all about it, but if a reploid does, traces of the memories are still there. Those 'dreams' are just old data flying around in your head. Either that or you're accidently accessing the internet in your sleep."

"The don't call it the internet anymore. It's Web World Interface."

"Whatever. So what do you dream about, anyway?"

Zero let a strained sigh through his teeth. There was so much to be told - the old man, the orders, the evil laugh...

"Dr. Wily." he answered simply.

"Really?" Bass' grin was a nightmare and a half. "Now this I've got to see! Here, I think I can recover the memories and put them on this monitor."

Bass quickly patched his right arm back up, wriggling the fingers to make sure that he was all set. He unplugged the energy booster from the computer and took out a wire, sticking one side into the monitor's visual port. The other end was headed straight for Zero, but the red robot flinched.

"That only happens to true reploids." Zero objected. "But I'm not a reploid. I'm not made from X parts."

"Yeah you are." Bass swatted away his arm and plugged in the wire to Zero's neck. "Wily stole some designs. Why else would old memories still be around?"

Zero was astonished. He was made with designs from X? The belief was too good to give into.

"You...you're sure?"

"Yeah," Bass answered as he busily tapped buttons on the monitor's console. "Heh, it's not like Wily could build anything but crap without ripping off Light somehow."

Zero was doubtful about that. He knew better than Bass about the virus and his own construction: Wily was not to be underestimated. That much was immediately obvious as Bass converted his thumb into a zip drive and jammed it into Zero's neck without so much as a "hold still". Confusion, small at first, appeared on Forte's expression as he searched through the darker, subconcious parts of his brother's mind, looking through for damaged or hidden files. Zero paled; what exactly was he seeing in there?

"This is so weird." Bass said. "Everything about your mind is so...backwards. Nuts. Loopy-"

"I get the picture." Zero impatiently hissed.

Bass acted as if he hadn't heard, and he shook his head. "I seriously don't get reploid CPUs. You're even worse than that stupid one Alia made me work on the other day. It's like you're supposed to have some sort of control program, but it's gone and the rest of your head is just trying to work without it. I think. Crap, you're just lucky nobody can hack through this mess. This is so stupid."

"Alright, that's enough." Zero was tired of this, and he reached for Bass' arm to pull it away.

"Hold on, I found something."

The monitor blinked into life, and Zero dropped his hand without noticing that he had done so.

**The view of the screen showed a dark place. There were things in this place, but the faint light was only enough to make strange shadows of whatever the things were supposed to be. There was only enough time to take this in before the lights flicked on, and everything became known as a mess of machines and robot parts. The floor, barely visible from the perspective of the memory, showed only scattered nuts, bolts, and a few tools on cold tile. **

Haunted, Zero could only watch. He didn't recognise the room, but it could only be the laboratory he was created in. He just knew it.

**The view went downwards, confirming this assertion. There was a bare power core, still glowing blue even with the lights on, and two upper appendages. One was clearly an arm, but the other on the right was a stump. All there was for legs were two thick beams and a rather complex joint in the middle. He didn't seem to have any feet, though a small, metal table in the corner seemed to have some red armor that looked like legs.**

**"Muahaha...HAHAHAAHA!"**

Zero jumped. He knew that laugh.

**"Hello, my greatest creation." A wild-haired man, wrinkled but gleeful, approached, rubbing his pale and twisted fingers together. "I am your master, Dr. Albert A. Wily, the most ingenious robotics engineer this world has ever known!"**

The doctor followed up this introduction with another round of hearty, appalling laughter. Zero cringed.

"Gag..." Bass muttered.

**"And you, my priviliged machine," Wily finally continued, the laughter not completely gone from his voice. "You are my masterpiece! The one robot destined to let this world know that I am the best! You are the mighty Zero, champion of all robots, but there are others standing in your way." Dr. Wily's sinister motives poisoned his tone, he and his hideous smile appeared. "You must destroy the creations of the pathetic Dr. Light! It will be easy for you. I have made you with so much firepower, so much knowledge, that even miserable 'Mega' Man with be nothing for you to defeat!"**

Zero took a risk and glanced over at Bass. The dark robot's eyes could not contain the sheer hatred he had for his master. He too had heard similar words from Wily at his activation, Zero guessed.

**"But there is one robot greater than all of these, and he will prove the real challenge, the real test of your might!" Wily went on. "His name is Mega Man X. I don't know if he is complete, or when he will be if he isn't now. That doesn't mean that we can waste any time. I am going to upload all that I know about this X into your CPU, and I want you to study it. Know his weaknesses, and tear him apart when the time comes! You will have the ability, once you are finished. Hahaha, Zero, you are the most magnificent robot ever to exist! No blue idiot can ever get the best of Dr. Wily! Bwahahahahahaaa!"**

**As Wily laughed, the memory's Zero slowly lifted his left hand - the one that wasn't a stump. Wily barely noticed it in time.**

**"What?"**

**A shot of red plasma flew from the buster, and if Wily weren't such a wiry little man, then more of him would be scorched than one side of his hair. "AAH! WHERE DID I PUT THE REMOTE?"**

**Wily dashed over to the table in the corner as the buster clumsily pointed there, but just as it was ready to fire again, Wily pointed a small something and everything went black.**

"AHAHA! Hahahahaaa!" Bass burst out, laughing. "You SHOT at Wily? Hahaha haa...that was so great! Too bad you missed! Ahahahaa!"

Forte bent over double, laughing deliriously and with no sign of stop. Zero felt a little sick staring at the now dark screen. He wasn't sure how he wanted to feel. While it was hard to hear his purpose so clearly from his creator, at the same time he felt let down. He had been expecting something more from Wily, but the doctor wasn't how Zero had imagined him to be.

"Hey you guys." Axl had slipped into the room unnoticed. "What's so funny?"

"I wish I knew myself." Zero eyed Bass, who seemed finally ready to recover from his fit of hilarity.

"Oh man, kid, you really missed it!" Bass still laughed. "We found this old memory of when Wily first did a test activation of Zero, and it doesn't take two minutes for him to try and shoot the bastard!"

"Wow! Did he hit Wily?"

"Sadly no." Bass said. "But it's the thought that counts. Sheesh, Zero, you weren't alive for five minutes and you were already smarter than the stupid robot masters. I'm proud of you."

"I don't know why I did that." Zero said uncertainly.

Bass shrugged. "You weren't supposed to remember. Wily probably deleted that memory himself."

"Is there any more?" Axl asked. "I want to see some too!"

"Let me check..." While laughing, Bass had removed his thumb from Zero's neck, so he plugged it in again. "Alright, hm, I found two more. Here's the one dated earlier. First let me load them into the computer."

"Alright!" Axl grabbed a chair and pulled it over next to Zero, sitting there happily.

"And starting..." Bass hit the enter key.

**"Good morning, Zero." a more subdued and stern Dr. Wily appeared on the screen, tightly fingering Zero's emergency remote. "It's time to run some tests on you. Most importantly, the **_**obedience**_** tests."**

Axl immediately covered his mouth, snorting with laughter. "Aw, he's scared of Zero!"

"Quiet! I'm trying to listen." Bass said.

**Wily started by ordering Zero to do simple things, like stand on one leg or lift his arms. Because the memory was through Zero's own eyes, it didn't show much of his body. What glimpses they did see of his hands showed that he was closer to completion, but he had no busters. **

**"Can he talk?" a new voice said. **

**The perspective turned and allowed another robot to be seen, Quick Man. The boomerang-bot was sitting casually on the side, and beside him was Needle Man. Both of them looked ready to shoot just in case something went wrong with Zero. Quick Man was especially doubtful of the new robot, and he sneered at it disdainfully.**

**"I haven't installed his voice box yet." Wily said. "There's less backtalk that way."**

**"I don't get it, Dr. Wily." Needle Man's voice took on a mournful tone. "I mean...we're great robots. Why do you need to replace us?"**

**"Because none of you can defeat Mega Man X." Wily said with impatience. "Now don't complain. I'm letting you see my secret project, so just be grateful. Alright, Zero, come over here."**

**Zero obeyed, walking over to his master and standing before him as the latter inspected him. Wily scrutinizing glare went up and down the robot, and he seemed unsatisfied with something. Turning around, he started rummaging around with some armor, and in doing so he had to put down the remote. It lay there on the table, unguarded and forgotten. Zero snatched it and smashed it in his hands before anyone could take action, and when Wily turned and saw what his robot had done, he screamed in fear. **

**"Stop him, you idiots!"**

**A flood of needles distracted Zero from Wily. A few embedded themselves in the tall robot, but he only ignored them. No matter how many needles were fired at him, Zero just kept on running to the offender. Needle Man tried to send out his needle helmet to stop Zero, but Zero grabbed it and swung Needle Man into the wall. The poor robot master was so stunned that he could do nothing to stop Zero from ripping him to bits. Quick Man wouldn't be taken so easily. He hopped around the room with his boomerangs sailing straight on through to the rampaging machine. **

**"Haha!" Quick Man laughed. "You're too slow!"**

**Zero stood there for a moment, letting Quick Man taunt and jeer. Quick Man got too eager, just as his opponent had suspected, and he also got too close. A metal hand snatched Quick Man in the middle of his jump. Zero slowly crushed the Team 2 robot's neck, letting Quick Man squirm and writhe until finally his operations would work no longer. **

**That done, Quick Man hit the floor, clanging. Zero paid no attention to the sound. He snapped his head around, catching the sight of Wily trying to head for a set of concrete stairs. In three of his long strides, the mechanical monster reached the evil doctor.**

**"Wait!" Dr. Wily lifted his hands in front of his face, as if his brittle, skinny arms could actually do anything against the machine. "If you kill me, then you'll never be completed!**

**Zero paused, and after a moment Wily smiled weakly. It had worked. Only not. Letting a few seconds of peace pass, it was only moments before Zero's reached down, intending to snag his creator by the collar of his lab coat. **

**"Hey old man, what's making all this noise? Are you trying to build something stupid again?"**

All three of the viewers jumped back at that voice.

**Bass came down the stairs, distracting Zero. He looked with the least curious of eyes at Zero, grimacing disdainfully at the incomplete robot. **

**"So what the hell is that thing supposed to be, old man?"**

**"SHUT UP AND DEACTIVATE HIM!"**

**"Why?" For good measure, Bass hopped over the railing of the stairs, landed, and leaned casually against the wall. "What'll you give me if I do?"**

**"Stop being a smartmouth and do it already!"**

**Zero looked at the newcomer momentarily. Bass was silent as he stood to the side, unlike the screaming-himself-red-in-the-face Wily at his feet. Zero reached down for Wily.**

**"Bass, you no-good boltsack!" Wily screamed. "What are you doing? Deactivate him already!"**

**"You took your time repairing Treble, so I'm taking my time helping you. Anyway, this is what you get for trying to build more of your idiot junk-bots."**

**Zero snatched up the scientist from his tight fetal position, staring at Wily curiously like he was a specimen of some sort. However, his interest level abruptly dropped, and the half-built robot brought his other hand around Wily's awkward little neck.**

**"JUST KILL HIM! NOW!"**

**"Now kill I can do!"**

**A few purple bursts flashed across Zero's eyes, and he dropped his creator for the far more challenging victim. Dashing to the back and gold fighter-bot, Zero was mere seconds away from ripping him apart when Bass himself dashed away, firing his plasma pellets all the while. This opponent wasn't as fast as Quick Man, but he was certainly smarter. And he was getting closer...**

The screen cut to black. Zero blinked uncertainly. But even he thought it was funny; Axl found it funnier still.

"I can't believe it, were you guys always fighting?" he laughed.

"I can't believe that I killed him twice, and he _still _isn't dead." Bass remarked, eyeing his brother with annoyance.

"Twice?" Axl asked.

"Eh, one and a half. The other time it was a fake."

"You're crazy if you think anybody can defeat Zero!" Axl said. "I mean, it doesn't matter how strong they are, Zero always lives! He got killed by Vile, had his parts stolen by the X Hunters, he ran a shuttle into a space station, and he got blown up by Sigma! I mean, after all that, I'm convinced he has to be invincible!"

Bass swore, glaring with only the slightest hint of jest at the red reploid.

"Oh shut up, Mr. I-Can-Survive-A-Nuke." Zero rolled his eyes and changed the subject. "But anyway, do you remember that? What happened after you shot me?"

The dark robot shrugged. "Yeah, I remember. I guess Wily just wanted me to remember in case I needed to kill you again. After that, Wily yelled at me for damaging you so much and told me to leave. Heck, if I knew it was you I would have destroyed the entire lab."

Bass said this without condenscention, but it had an immediate darkening affect on Zero. Fortunately Axl completely missed it, going on as if the comment had been about the weather. "Hey, I wonder if I'm as invincible as you guys. "

"It seriously doesn't bother you to know you're based off Wily-bots?" Forte was doubtful.

"Why not? I mean, with you as my dad, well, that's really cool!" Seeing Bass' annoyance, Axl winked. "Hey, and I guess that means Zero's my uncle. Awesome!"

Zero chortled some. "You really stop thinking like that, Axl. Why do you think Bass goes on about robots not having family? Think about it. If robots have family, then we're related to _Aqua Man_."

Axl jumped back, shuddering but not without cheer. "Ha, that's awful! Crap, I guess that means we're related to Top Man too...and Oil Man...ew, Clown Man was pretty creepy too! And Spring Man was just lame."

"How do you know about all these losers?" Bass asked.

"X had the information from one hundred old data discs stored in his memory. From time to time he spoke of what little he knew of them." Zero's attention turned to Axl. "You see, Bass has a reason to not refer to things in terms of being related. Who would want to be related to the old robot masters anyway?"

"Some of them were kinda strong for their time," Axl said. "I get ya, though. I mean, hey, I tease Bass about it all the time, but I don't really mean it."

"You better not." Bass' comment was sour. "Think about it. If robots have family, then Crystal Man is my 'brother', making Crystal Bot my niece. And if you're our kid, then that means-"

"Aaagh! Okay, I get it, I get it!" This time, Axl's shuddering was absolutely devoid of amusement. "Gross!"

"On that happy note," Forte's sarcasm was evident as he pushed a few buttons on the computer. "Let's see the last one."

**Zero's eyes opened. He was complete. He could see the extent of his red and white armor, and his long hair streamed out beside him. He was lying on some sort of panel, held upward. The room around him was the same laboratory it had always been, though this time everything was messier than usual. It felt almost abandoned. **

**It wasn't, though. Calm, gentle footsteps echoed, becoming louder as they approached. Dr. Wily once more stood in front of his creation, and a remote stuck out of his pocket. Unlike before, he didn't seem afraid of Zero any longer. He also was older; new wrinkles lined the contours of his face, particularly the ones on his head, or else they were just accentuated by his baldness. Wily stooped a little lower, walked at a slower pace, and had the appearance of weighing much less. But the liveliness that marked his earlier appearances was still there, nonetheless.**

**"You are complete, Zero."**

**The old man, as if doubting his own words, tapped a bit on Zero's shoulder armor. The **_**ping**_** it made rang out cheerfully, and Wily seemed satisfied by it. He grinned, exposing haggard teeth.**

**"You're ready for your destiny." Wily's dark smile floated hauntingly over him. "You can destroy X, and any other weakling that dares defy you. You are the mightiest robot that has ever existed. Without my genius, no one will be able to do any better! I have a plan, and everything must be done according to it. You won't activate now, but when you do, remember this one thing: you must kill Mega Man X! Make the world suffer for ignoring my genius!"**

**Wily backed up some from Zero to allow himself a complete view of his robot. He inspected Zero with cautious eyes, and while he seemed to express doubt, the inspection only made him the more gleeful the more he looked.**

**"Zero...my masterpiece. Go after him! He is my nemesis! Our rivalry is what gives me motivation in life! Now go, destroy him! That's an order!" For the slightest moment, Wily's eyes softened. "...Make me proud."**

The screen went blank, and all three robots just sat (or stood, in Bass' case) there, frozen in place. Axl again was the first to speak.

"That one wasn't funny. It was...creepy."

The others couldn't help but agree, which they did in silence. Zero rubbed his eyes. He knew this memory. He had seen it more than often enough in his dreams.

"Hmph. Bass, please tell me there's some way these can be deleted out of my head."

"How would I know?" Bass scoffed. "I barely know how to even restore these kinds of files. Your best bet is to put them in a seperate file in your head, one that you can't automatically access. That way you won't have to look at them and someone that knows what they're doing can delete them. Best I can tell you to do."

"Thanks, I guess."

"Are you alright looking at these, Zero?" Axl was starting to get worried. "I mean, it's about attacking your best friend."

Zero shrugged, grinning at little at the reploid beside him. "I haven't obeyed Wily this far. Why would I start? I'm fine, just...disappointed."

"In what?"

"In Wily." Zero's smug laugh caught Axl off guard. "I was expecting to be built by this evil and mysterious mad scientist, and _this_ is the best that I get? I knew he had built some weak robot masters, but this is just ridiculous. I was built by a bitter, crazed old man out for revenge. It's sad."

From here, Zero's mood tempered, and he felt his spirits sag. It _was _sad. Here he was, one of the world's strongest, and he was built because a man who lived a century ago felt bad about himself. The world now was plunged into what seemed like an endless war with a perilous virus because of the same. It was both hilarious and depressing all at the same time. All it took was one hateful person to bring gloom and devastation to so many. It amazed Zero. He leaned back in his chair. That was when he caught sight of Bass, whose expression was a blend of bleak irony and jolly spite, with just a tinge of superiority. There was no doubt: Forte knew exactly what Zero was thinking.

He leaned in closer, grinning enough to show his fangs. "Welcome to my world."

Zero immediately blasted out a foul curse, shoving Bass (on purpose) into the repair table (by accident). That didn't stop either Axl or Bass from cracking up, and after a bit Zero himself joined in.

"BASS!"

All laughter ceased, and all three bots stared at the door. There in the open doorway was Roll, posed like a frantic manga character, frozen with arms out and eyes wide. She collected herself a little and looked around the room, her worried face going from corner to corner of the lab.

"No one else is here, right?"

"Lifesaver was here a little bit ago." Forte said as he got up off the floor. "He went to get some parts so he'll be back at some point."

"Do we have a few minutes at least?"

"I guess..."

The girl-bot in red quickly entered, making sure the door's panels slid shut behind her before she ran up to the guy-bots. "I think I have an idea how to cure the Maverick virus!"

Everyone was instantly attentive, and Zero stiffened without realizing it as the others gathered around his chair.

"Okay," Roll began. "Bass, you remember when you were arguing with Jewel Man?"

"Yes." Bass growled in response, squinting his eyes with hate and trying to ignore Zero (who made no effort to hide the fact he was judging Bass). "Thanks for reminding me."

Roll shook her head in earnest. "No, don't think about that. That was a distraction. Crystal Bot had the Maverick virus, and she fixed it on her own! When Jewel Man...was being horrible, she just got up all on her own and nobody thought to question it!"

Zero started. "The virus is that old? I thought that I was the only one with it."

Bass was doubtful. "Roll, we have no way of knowing if it was that virus. It was probably one Wily programmed specifically for her."

"Whoa!" Axl objected. "That's not what you said the first day you got here! You noticed automatically what virus it was when Signas described it to you."

Bass despised being contradicted, and he had to remind himself not to bare his teeth. "It sounded the same as what I knew then about the Maverick virus from records Proto Man stole. I don't have any proof that it was the same one as on Crystal. Though...what I researched of it now it _seems_ similiar, with the whole rewriting AI thing..." Bass scratched his chin. "I just don't know!"

"If it's similar then maybe you can help!" Roll said with all the optimism of a true Light-bot, in just the right tone to irritate Bass. "You worked on Crystal to help her finish getting it off of her systems! You saw what was wrong with her head! I just know you can figure this out!"

It was as if someone had asked Forte to babysit, he was so repulsed. "Look, all I did was run some of her anti-virus programs, and we don't have any of those now. I don't know what worked, or even if it worked! All we know is that she mostly acted normal. Maybe the virus was just...dormant or something."

"I know that people have pretended not to have the virus for a while." Axl said. "But can the virus actually be dormant?"

Bass glared at Axl, flicking a thumb over at Zero.

"Oh yeah...hehe...I guess so..."

"Why are you being so doubtful, Bass?" Roll protested. "I mean, look at the job you did rebuilding me!"

Zero snickered, and Bass glared over at the taller Wily-bot, hoping it would somehow get the idea across that Zero would regret mocking him (it didn't). "You shut your trap!"

"I'm just glad that Alia was there to help you." Zero said, not put off in the slightest. In fact, Bass' annoyance only motivated him further. "Poor X couldn't handle his sister exploding."

"You two are the worst." Roll said, hands on her hips just like mother. "Bass, don't worry. If you need help, I'm sure Alia would love to lend a hand. I know that there might not be any connection, but...well there has to be! Think about it! Zero and X have been friends for a long time, and X has always been safe! There's something inside X that keeps him from getting the virus! Wily tried to make it so that X would be vulnerable, but he always underestimated Dr. Light and he probably never understood what he knew about X's parts anyway. So he could make it so robots like X could get the virus, but not X himself! He's immune to the virus!"

Bass shook his head. "What does that prove? None of the Hunters got the virus from Zero."

"That's right!" Axl piped up. "It's always been from the outside. From Sigma."

"Wait...X _was _exposed to it." Zero spoke up. "I remember it...during the space colony incident Sigma released a mobile version of the virus and X couldn't evade all of it. It weakened him, but he never succumbed. He has to be immune. But still," Zero turned to Roll. "I don't know if that will help. X's data can't be analyzed properly. Whatever makes him immune is unknown."

"That's what makes Bass so important!" Roll turned to him eagerly. "Crystal Man was the one to steal the X plans from our labs originally, and since he wasn't good enough at AI or CPUs to understand it, he had to make Crystal Bot more like X so that she could operate. And that's why Crystal Bot could overcome that virus she had - she was like X! Oh, Bass, you were the one that worked on her! Dr. Light told you all about X's mind in the hospital! You're the only one who knows enough about Dr. Light's work to have any chance! We might actually be able to beat this! Please say you'll help!"

Forte was completely dumbfounded. No one had ever begged for help like this, and while flattery was usually the best policy in his case, technology was the one area that he was totally unsure (other than babysitting). There was no telling how long working on the virus could take, and to work on science that would not lead him to a brand new pair of superbly devastating and particularly destructive busters was an enmaddening thought. Yet, unexpectedly, his thoughts turned the other direction on him. Glancing at Zero, Bass knew that he could access those mostly deleted memories only because of what Dr. Light had told him. He had the ability to at least try.

Bass closed his eyes. He had failed in stopping the wars long ago when he had the chance, and now he had no right to say no. He grinned.

"Eh, I'll see what I can do." Bass finally agreed. "But not by myself. Roll, signal for Alia. I'll need to go over the memories I have of working on Crystal. She'll probably know more than I do about how it's supposed to work. At least I hope so."

"I'm on it!"

As Roll scurried off to the telescreen to call for Alia, who was doubtlessly somewhere still in the complex, Bass approached the computer desk. He searched through the mess he had made of the counter and pulled out a drive. Sticking it into his neck, he addressed Axl.

"Hey kid, you take this drive over to Signas so that he knows what's going on." The drive was fast to load, and Axl obediently took it once it was done. "These are all my relevant memories on it, and it'll explain better than anyone can."

"Right!"

And Axl ran off. Zero got to his feet. There were better things he could be doing. Let them sort out their science; he would try to find something else to do. X would be back soon, but not so soon he couldn't get in a short rest in his restore room. He hadn't forgotten what Layer had told him, and he knew he needed some work. Let Bass and Alia have the lab for now. He could always come back later. Forte, however, caught sight of this attempt.

"You stay there a minute." he said. "I want to check for more of those deleted files, if there are any."

Little as he wanted to stay, the thought of having more of his dreams sickened him. His creator might be less of a spectre to him, but that lessened his disgust none. He sat back down, giving in.

"Alright."

Zero allowed Bass to hook him back up to the computer, and the latter set up the computer to automatically search for deleted files. Zero was glad; he didn't like Bass sifting through his memories. He couldn't tell what Bass could see and couldn't. If Bass was aware of his disgust, he didn't show it. He was too immersed in his own work at the computer. He had to download his own memories so that Alia could see as much as she could of Crystal Bot's head. From the sheer annoyance splattered all over Bass, it was easy to tell that his work was taking a lot of concentration.

Alia entered then, and once she noticed that Zero was there, she did her now normal routine: avoid looking in his direction again and make a fuss about whatever she could with the others present. Roll was eagerly telling Alia everything as the navigator went her way to Bass' side. Alia looked over his shoulder, and all three started going on about scientific things - and Roll did as best she could to keep up with the other two. Bass might not have been an expert, but he at least knew the terminology.

Zero was quiet. He avoided letting out a sigh, wishing he had just told Bass no. Though, sitting in silence near lively people was at least a little better than being alone, the awkwardness was getting to be too much. He peered back over his shoulder at the monitor.

_Just a few more seconds...there must not be many deleted files on my system._

"Hey Roll." Bass said, waving her over to the computer. "C'mere a minute."

"Okay. What do you want me to see?"

Though the dark robot had been pointing at the monitor, as soon as Roll looked at it, Bass promptly grabbed her arm and they both disappeared. Alia started as she saw them teleport away, and she cringed with obvious sickness. Zero couldn't tell if it was because Bass was somehow being annoying or if she just didn't want to be alone in the same room with him, but just in case it was the latter, Zero unplugged from the computer and began walking away. Behind him, Alia sighed, and an accompanying noise sounded rather like her fist pounding into a countertop.

"No, Zero, wait."

Alia's voice was tainted with dread resolution. Zero faced her, a bit stunned. It was the first time she had directly spoken to him for weeks. The effort must have been terrible for her; she was slumped over, holding one arm as she reluctantly approached him. Alia managed to lift her head up, though Zero wished she hadn't. The pain in her eyes was too much to bear, and her lip trembled with hate or grief.

"I just want to say...I'm sorry."

Alia choked on her words, forcing herself to go on though she saw no reaction in Zero. "I...I wanted so badly to hate you. I was angry, but you don't deserve how I've treated you ever since I found out. Even now...I have to apologize, but I just want to tell you everything that's happened to me because of the virus, how everything went so wrong. I can't. It's not right. You know how bad these wars have been. I don't need to explain that to you."

Shivering, Alia had to turn her gaze down the floor again. "I thought I hated you, but...Gate...I'm just so mad...you saw how Gate was and how much he'd changed. It was the worst thing to me then that someone I knew so well and had done so much for science and good could turn so evil that quickly. When I found out about you, that was so much worse! You're a hero...and I'm supposed to be your friend. You're not a horrible person at all, and if we lost you to the virus...I just can't go through that again!"

She let out a sob, but she forced it down and steeled herself looking up directly at Zero. "I'm sorry I tried to blame you for everything. It wasn't right. Please...forgive me."

Zero said nothing. He may as well have been a stone, and his expression gave away nothing. Zero was used to keeping himself contained, and even in this circumstance it wasn't difficult, even if on the inside he feared that his grief would tear him apart. Yet not all of it could stay down. He had plenty to be ashamed of, and his head hung slightly. His resolve wavered, and he couldn't maintain eye contact any longer.

"Don't worry about it." he said. "You have every right to be angry."

"That's just it. I don't have the right." Alia protested. She stepped forward. "I know you must feel guilty, but I also know _you_. You never wanted any of these wars to happen and hate it more than any of us, even me. If you had the choice then you would have stopped the virus. I can't blame you for something that wasn't in your control." She took his arm and continued, even daring to smile. "I promise that I'll do everything in my power to end the Maverick virus. Even if I never come up with the cure, I promise that I'll still be your friend. If you can forgive me, anyway."

That meant more to Zero than he could say. He looked up, returning the smile Alia gave. He wondered why they had never been closer friends before. Zero admitted to himself that he spent most of his time with the fighter-bots, as he was far more task-oriented than people-oriented.

_You know, maybe that's not such a good thing. I better work on that. _Zero smiled. "Consider it forgotten."

"Come on, let's get some scans going, I've got a promise to keep." Alia said, happy for once. Zero finally noticed that this apology was beneficial for her as well; now she didn't have to pretend that everything was alright. "If Bass was able to learn a thing or two from Dr. Light, then he'll know how to get into that head of yours."

Alia pulled him over to the computers so that he could once again plant himself on the chair. Zero wasn't particularly eager to be worked on, but it was for the best. He was just glad that things were going to settle down between him and Alia.

"Speaking of Bass, why were you two arguing the other day?" Zero asked.

"Eh...we were arguing about you." she bit her lip. "Um, he wanted me to apologize to you. The disc you gave me was some data he was hiding from me until I did."

Zero's brow wrinkled at once. Bass did that? "You have to be lying."

"No. He said, and I quote, 'if I have to put up with that whiny little girl moping around here for much longer, you're going to suffer'."

The red Hunter laughed at once. "Just when I thought Bass was capable of being nice."

"Bass? _Nice_? You're smarter than that."

It was out of character for his brother to be that way. Zero relaxed, not minding as Alia restablished his network with the computer. Maybe, now that this was cleared up, things would go more back to normal. As normal as it could be, in any case. Zero thought about his brother. He realized he did have a lot more to be grateful for. Bass had rescued Roll, and anything that made X happy did the same for Zero. And Bass did help with those old memories. Since they were restored, maybe the nightmares were over. Perhaps Alia knew how to delete the memories entirely.

Zero opened up radio communications. _" - Hey Bass. - "_

_" - What? - "_

_" - You can come back to the lab now. Alia did what she was told. - "_

_" - Good. Be there in a sec. - "_

_" - Oh, one last thing. - "_

_" - Yeah? - "_

_" - I hate you. - "_

_" - Not as much as I hate you, Sis. - "_

Zero chuckled. That was his brother alright.

\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- Okay, y'all, I have a problem with people who come and flame in the reviews. I'm going to have to ask that y'all keep all of your messages polite. If something about my stories bothers you, then feel free to say so, but be mannerable about it. If you wish to flame me, please do so by pm. I will happily address your concern in private, which is where I prefer to deal with complex story problems, not by my author's notes. Let me make it clear that I don't mean negative reviews in general. Go ahead and point out my flaws, just don't freak out about it.

I'm really sad that this had to happen, and quite frankly I was expecting a lot more hate at the beginning of this story, not this far along. A fanfiction is not worth getting hateful over. Please review with helping me improve in mind.

Thanks to my reviewers and peeps, and I hope you enjoy the story. Just remember, if there's something wonky goin' on in the plot you don't like, just trust me. I've had this plotline in mind for most of a year now, and I know where I'm going with it. Love y'all!

On to better things!

- Ironically, Bass is not a bass. He's a tenor. Oh, and Zero wasn't obvious when he was hiding at the door, Bass is just paranoid about people watching him. Also, both of them are left-handed. Not that that has anything to do with anything, but yeah.

- No, I'm not pairing Alia and Zero. Save that for your own fics. ;) Also, I don't think the whole Layer/Zero thing would work out either. It's just not a thing Zero would do with the virus still in him, and after Iris, who knows? Just doesn't seem to fit the character.

Darkhydra

=======Gloom Kraken

**"Be my friend, or else!"**

Gloom was meant to clean the oceans, but over time became very lonely. He recieved the Maverick virus and became a happier person. He loves to tear boats apart. His tentacles rip off armor, causing damage taken to increase, and he can also bite the player and send out ink that blinds the player. Beating him earns the player the Kraken whip, which can also be used to swing on things.

Dark led to gloom and hydra led to kraken. Easy peasy. Sounds really cool, I think.

Vienrider

=======Buck Junker

**"I'll turn you into something useful! Hold still!"**

Buck is a deer robot with very muscular arms. He's great at punching, and he hates pollution. He will take junk that he finds lying around and "recycle" it - turn it into a mechaniloid. He can suck up the player with his vacuum, and if he catches them he kicks them across the room. He also charges and throws junk. The player that beats him gets the Junk Kicker, which enables the player to suck up smaller bots and kick them at other enemies.

I went with "vie" which means "to contend" or to go against, and "buck" is a synonym. Like buck the system, I guess. Junker is a reference to cars.

I think I'll do some for the peeps that favorited me too.

Maverick Hunter Phoenix

======Hawker Blaze

**"Yeah, I'm pretty awesome."**

Hawker is, of course, a hawk. He is a very angry bird, but also vain, thinking that he is the handsomest of all the Mavericks. Anyone who disagrees with him gets shot by flames, which Hawker throws out of his mouth. He can also leave trails of fire as he flies. The player that beats him gets Blaze Line, which enables the player to leave a trail of fire behind them.

This was easy. Looking up "hunter" got me "hawker", which is great with the bird reference. Phoenixes have fire, so there ya go. Hope you like!


	9. Relentless

Signas entered the office like usual. The day was beginning to look like a quiet one, or so his stopover at the navigation center told him. That meant he could deal with his own various worries and job-related legalities. There was no end to the paperwork he had to fill out, emails he had to respond to, and orders from the government he would have to put into practice. Signas made a point of hiding his legal obligations from everyone at the organization, and only X had ever crossed into that side of the Maverick Hunters' policies.

The commander paused in the midst of the doorway. This really was his office?

Signas finished his entrance, shutting the door behind him. While his office was usually very clean, this was not clean. This was beyond anyone's wildest notion of what "clean" could possibly describe. It was impeccable. Even without a sense of smell Signas was able to guess that the room must have the odor of something pleasant and yet perfectly masculine. The floor had always been kept reasonably tidy by the mechaniloid cleaners, but now Signas could see himself in the now fresh and bright taupe tiles. Of course, only in the parts of the floor that weren't covered by a brand new carpet. It was woven cloth of many darker, richer colors woven into a Roman pattern, very dignified and presentable. Signas' bookcases to the left were stacked perfectly, and a quick glance through several titles revealed that the books were in alphabetical title by author.

Being not so artistic, Signas had never bothered to put up any pictures. But someone had bothered, and now there were pictures on the wall: a cityscape of Arcadia, a couple of aircraft shots, and above the window to the right was a wooden plaque that read "Consilio et Animis" - "by wisdom and courage". The walls themselves had been repainted with a fresh, alert white, and after noticing these it was easier to see that the bookcases too had been refinished with a dark stain. Signas couldn't spot a speck of dust anywhere in the room. He even ran a finger under his desk lamp (hey wait, when did he get a desk lamp?) and his finger was no dirtier than before.

And that of course led him to investigate the desk. It was stained the exact color of the bookcases, and everything on it was organized. His pens were gathered into a glossy black desk organizer that held also a notepad and his hand held electric data organizer. Every nook and cranny of the device was also dust-free. The computer screen built into the desk was lovingly shiny, and Signas didn't think it had been so clean when he bought it.

A bit peturbed, Signas sat down in his chair. It did not squeak. And that annoying unevenness in his desk that he had told himself he was going to get to eventually was gone. Suspicious of futher interference, Signas opened the large drawer, sorting through several files and folders. They too had been organized, and Signas automatically winced. He had just gotten them the way he liked them, and - oh wait, what was this? They were all somehow better than before. He found important documents and discs even faster than when he had arranged the files his own way.

Signas closed the draw, sitting back more comfortably in his chair, which still didn't squeak. He chuckled.

_I really need to talk to X about keeping Roll out of my office._

-t-

It had been a tough transition for Roll, even tougher for her than becoming Proto Bot. As Proto Bot, she had been more or less emotionless, free from all the worries and cares of having friends and family as she defended the remaining humans during the bleak years post-robot-apocalypse. But now she remembered all that she had lost - her creator, her brothers, her friends, her home...everything. As much as she tried to be cheerful, the fear didn't leave her alone. She felt an inward shakiness all the time. Signas had been nothing but kind to her, and the girl-bots of the navigation department were all wonderful. Still, Roll never felt safe unless she was somewhere near either X or Bass, the last remnants of her former life. Thinking back of the days when she had been the last sentient robot alive stunned her. She could have gone anywhere without fear. Not so anymore.

Zero. Now he was a different story entirely. Everything in her head told her that he was safe and that there was no reason to worry, but she was still frightened of him. That was not unique; she felt pretty scared of a lot of things these days. His quiet soul was at the same time saddening, and many times Roll wondered if she would rather get away from him or try to comfort him. Fortunately the winner of those debates was her sense of reason, and while she chose cheer over gloom, she did what she could to not embarrass Zero. She liked listening to him, and as he and Bass talked about fighting Mavericks, she found the talk of distant war strangely comforting. Mostly in the fact that it was distant. What fighting she had done as Proto Bot wasn't enough to bring any sense of getting used to it.

Bass was her hero these days. To anyone else, he was his same, abrupt self. Not to her. The times when X was on duty, Roll found herself in his company a lot. Bass had taken up the duty of trying to figure out a cure to the virus very seriously, so most of the time he was hanging about the computer labs. Roll worried that he would get annoyed with her staying near him all the time, but if it bothered him, he said nothing about it. Bass worked intensely on the data he had, but Roll would still catch him glancing in her direction every so often, as if to make sure that she was still there.

Roll did remember the promise Bass had made to Mega Man to always take care of her. He hadn't seemed to take it very seriously at the time, but Bass kept his word. If there was anything she wanted - usually cleaning supplies - Bass made sure she had it. That horrid day when she had gone to the robot museum the dark robot had been nothing short of a saint. Roll knew that sooner or later she was going to have to go, and Forte had warned her of what she would find. When they did go, it was during closing time so that she could be alone when she saw her brother's helmet, still bearing the deep gash that had been the end of his life. She wept at the sight of it, and Bass just let her cry on his shoulder for the next five minutes. The next time they went it was easier, though Bass never let go of her hand whenever they entered the first generation robot display. After a while, Roll began to enjoy telling stories of the past to Aengus R. He was a nice reploid, and Roll felt like she could talk to him for hours - as long as Bass or X was somewhere nearby. Roll knew she could never go there alone.

X himself should have felt like a stranger, but he didn't. Younger as he was, he felt so much older. Nothing to her meant as much as his happy face smiling down at her, and everyone kept saying how much happier he had become with Roll around. He spent almost all his free time with his sister, and the two of them found endless things to do. Zero joined them at times, and Roll liked that too.

Being with the two made Roll forget for a while. No, she never completely forgot. It was always there, just as it had been a century ago. It was that sense of numbness, a sense of something lost. And that something was purpose. If she was with Bass or X should could put it aside, and that was why she was so afraid of being away from them. She didn't want to start thinking about what she would do with herself. What job would she have? What purpose could she possible serve? She didn't want to become a Hunter. It wasn't something she could do. But the feelings of uselessness were beginning to come back to her, sinking down into the depths of her mind and waiting for a few moments of lonliness to strike again.

All that could wait. Today the merry girl-bot was with her youngest brother in downtown Arcadia. It was a rare day off for X, and he wanted to spend the day with her. Roll had mentioned that she wanted to get some supplies for soccer for the Hunters, and X agreed to go with her. Now the two were going through the busy streets looking for the appropriate store. It was wonderful to be there with X, who happily pointed out the best stores as they passed and the reploids that he knew worked there. The chore was taking far longer than it should have, mostly because there was a seemingly endless number of people who wanted to say hello to X and meet his sister.

"Sorry about that." X apologized for what must have been the fiftieth time. "Sultana Aubade can be talkative at times. I should have known she would want to meet you."

"It's perfectly alright." Roll assured him. "Don't worry about it at all. I love meeting new people - it's fun! Besides, I get to find all sorts of things out about you this way. I didn't know you sang karaoke."

"I don't often get the chance." X was warmed by Roll's smile. "Why don't we do that tonight? The karaoke rooms are top notch in Arcadia. Axl and Pallette have tonight off, and I think I can even get Zero to come. Does Bass sing?"

"He does." Roll laughed. "He thinks that I don't know. He's actually really good but you could never get him to come to a karaoke room."

"I should ask if _you _sing." X said. "I've never heard you."

"Oh!" Roll blushed. "I'm an okay singer, I think. I'm really better playing keyboard when it comes to music, though."

"Come on, I bet you have a wonderful singing voice."

"Maybe. I guess we'll see tonight then." Roll spied out a sporting store ahead. "Oh, is that the right shop there?"

X looked ahead. "It sure is. Do you know exactly what you want?"

"Yep!" Roll pulled a list out of her pocket. "It sure is nice not to have to bother about protective gear. I'll just need some goalposts, soccer balls and a rack, I think. Unless you can think of something else we'll need."

X shook his head. "I don't think so. I'm not sure though. I've never played soccer before."

"Really? It's fun. Rock used to play it all the time."

X wasn't sure he wanted Roll to talk about the past, and at the mention of her second brother Roll seemed to darken slightly, and she stared at the street before her rather than continue the conversation with X. But things weren't like before. Roll took a deep breath, then let the warmth return to her face. This memory was not a bitter one, and thinking of Rock seemed to do her good rather than harm. X smiled. He had always had a deep affection for those he protected, but now that he had a sister he learned how deep his love really could go.

X opened the door for her, and they entered the crowded shop, which was larger than Roll expected for a sporting goods store. The aisles were wide and stacked with every piece of equipment from every sport known to man. People, reploid and human alike, greeted X and his sister as they passed. One baby, probably only a year old, waved at Roll with a big toothy, drool-covered grin. The little boy instantly brought to mind images of young Mikhail Polovstiansky, Kalinka's son. Now that thought was depressing. Roll realized that even though Mikhail had been a nine year old boy the last time she had seen him, so many years had gone by that he was certainly dead of old age. Roll glanced at X. Maybe he knew of some records where they could look up his family. Surely he had descendants.

Fortunately, before too long, Roll saw something on a nearby shelf that brought her back to present day. "Hey X, do you think we might need some of that grass chalk to mark out lines for soccer?"

"Sounds good," X said. "But that stuff might be expensive for being something temporary."

"I'll look at the prices then."

"Okay, I'll be over where the goals are." X pointed to the left of the store. "I'll meet you over there."

"I won't be long!" Roll answered cheerfully. "Just give me a minute."

X went off, letting his watchful gaze linger on his sister as much as he could before he left. Roll just blithely went down the aisle, looking at the chalk-spraying guns and their corresponding price labels. Shopping was one of her prime joys in life, and Roll found herself lost in the midst of the sporting stuff, happily going from item to item in the search of the perfect one. And it was from this happy hypnotic daze that the blast snapped her out of.

Screams filled the store as the dust cleared, and despite her fear Roll did not run with the humans. A surprising curiousity drew her ever so slightly, enough to make her turn around and peek outside of the display shelves to see the gaping hole that now existed in the storefront. There was the very reploid Roll had met only ten minutes ago, Sultana Aubade. Only now did Roll see that Sultana's desert orange dress was less clothing and more armor, though she did have a cloth shawl wrapped around her dark hair and face to protect them from the plaster dust her explosion had caused. But as she lifted her head to focus her poison green eyes, Roll realized that she had made a mistake leaving X's side. Sultana was coming after her.

"Get that blonde!" Even while ordering about three large spider mechaniloids, Sultana's voice was a song. "Quickly now!"

Roll wanted desperately to run, but she forced herself to remember what little battle AI she had to spare. She got out in the open, stepping over wreckage of kneepads and helmets as the three spiders neared her. A red glow shot out of Roll's buster as she converted to her energy sword, and the spiders hesistated. But that alone would not stop them, and Roll had to swing fiercely to avoid the webs they spat.

"This is taking far too long!" Sultana hissed, looking fearfully in the direction X had gone. "Dreadboys, distract the Hunter!"

The spiders obeyed, and Roll found herself face to face with the both the most beautiful and most dangerous enemy she had ever had to fight. If Roll had been vain, she would have been jealous of the well crafted features of Aubade. Roll had little time to look before Sultana pulled out a large metal hand-fan, and with one swipe a rush of wind blew Roll back into a rack of baseball bats. Only by luck did she have her energy sword up in time to block the same fan, which flew at her like a boomerang and bounced off of the energy beam with a horrid _keeengg!_

"What do you want with me?" Roll cried out as she struggled into a defensive stance. "What have I done to you?"

"You are the sister of X." Sultana replied steadily as she caught her fan and neared Roll. The solemn and brilliant dignity of her face did not change in the slightest as she continued. "If I can dissect and understand your mind, then perhaps reploids will gain a greater understanding of our greatness. The secrets of X are a valued commodity, of more worth than gold or diamonds. I don't expect an oldstyle thing like you to understand. Just come quickly. If X gives himself to us for your sake, then perhaps you will be free before too much damage is done to your mind."

"No! I won't let you!"

Roll held up her sword defiantly, not realizing that the effort was pointless. She was nothing more than an adorable robot, and seeing Roll swing a sword about was rather like watching a kitten unsheath its little claws. Sultana allowed herself a haughtly laugh as she charged. Roll wanted to scream, and only the massive blows of the fan against her sword kept her focused enough to abandon this desire. Roll never had to fight anyone of this caliber as Proto Bot, and the impatient Sultana swatted at Roll ferociously. The metal thing caught Roll off guard, smacking into her buster and cutting off her beam. Sultana promptly snatched up her wrist, flinging Roll over her shoulder.

"X!" Roll screamed, kicking at Sultana with all her strength. Thinking quickly, she grabbed at Sultana's hair and gave it a sharp tug, struggling to get down.

"Argh! Little fool!"

Sultana refused to release her grip, and though Roll managed to fall from her shoulder, she could feel her arm's innards twist and snap. Only then did the noises behind the two robots become apparent; X had finished off the last of the dreadboys. With a fury that frightened even Roll, an angry X let off a half-charged shot at Sultana's head. Only then did she finally let go of Roll. X dashed past his sister, finishing the fleeing girl reploid before she could escape.

A black and gold teleporter beam landed, and Bass was by dizzy Roll's side before she realized it.

"What the hell happened here?" he snapped as he glared at the twisted mess that Roll's buster arm had become.

"A Maverick." X answered, still seething. "Where is Zero?"

"Close." Bass gave a curt answer, too busy trying to figure out what had been done to Roll. "There's more of those spider-bots running around and him and Axl are taking care of them."

X knelt down to get a better look at Roll's injuries. He hissed, "The coward. She went after Roll rather than fight me herself."

Her brother's anger was beginning to frighten Roll. "I'm alright X, really. It's not so bad."

"Not so bad?" Bass muttered. "Crap, look at this. X, I'll get her back to HQ."

"Right." X stood up. "Take good care of her."

It was a redundant order. Bass firmly nodded, teleporting both himself and Roll out. X tried to let out a breath, and his anger along with. It didn't work very well, and he turned to leave. There were Mavericks out there, putting people in danger. He had to do something about it. Any victim of their violence was important, and the fewer casualities the better.

Every victim was as important to someone as Roll was to him.

-t-

It was a much more calm X that made his way to the repair lab of the Maverick Hunter Headquarters, though more calm doesn't necessarily mean calm. He stepped up his pace without realizing it, though upon entrance to the room he was immediately relieved. Roll's arm was completely repaired, and X entered just in time to see her wriggle and wave her new fingers to test them. She smiled when X entered, waving. Alia put away some of the tools, optimistically talking with Bass - who in turn was somewhat less than. He approached X with the obvious intent of asking him what had happened, but X had his own question first.

"Is she alright?" X asked.

"Roll's fine." Bass answered, not that upset at being interrupted. "Took a while to fix that arm but it's not bad. Now tell me about those Mavericks."

X didn't like him dismissing his sister's trouble, but he let it pass. "They were after Roll to get to me. I didn't think that they would come into Arcadia with our presense so heavy. If Mavericks are willing to come this far..."

"Then they're getting desperate." Zero said, approaching the other two. "Think about it. With Sigma dead and copy chip production being put to a stop, then remaining Mavericks are going to have to go to desperate measures to get what they want."

"And what do they want?" Bass asked grumpily. "Don't they know when to quit?"

"No." X said. "At this point we can't assume that they won't attack HQ itself."

"They haven't attacked it so far, and if they're wasting time on other schemes they obviously don't think they can beat us on our own ground." Bass said. "All the same, I guess we can't put it past them."

Zero nodded. "It's actually pretty likely that they'll want us to stay close to Arcadia if they're using this tactic. Perhaps as a diversionary measure."

"That's a possibility, but we shouldn't act too hastily." X said, more or less referring to Bass.

Bass didn't seem to notice that this was targeted at him, but it was obvious to X that he wanted very much to be a part of this fight. Staying behind was not much fun, but he had imposed it on himself; Signas never ordered him to stay behind and work on curing the virus, though the commander wasn't exactly ungrateful that their wild cannon stayed behind. After all, the work on the virus had consumed Bass to the point where he had all but forgotten about upgrading his busters. The research he did do for them was going very slowly.

"How is the research coming?" X asked, trying to at least let Bass feel involved.

"I'm not built for this kind of crap," Forte answered, gesturing flatly at the computers behind him. "But I...think I might be making progress. Maybe. I need more time. I wasn't built for this..." Bass cut off his mutterings and flinched, rubbing his forehead with irritation as he went through his research in his mind. "Ugh, I'll let you know if I get somewhere."

"X!" Roll called out, running towards the fighters. "Are you alright?"

X shook his head, incredulous at the girl-bot that approached him. "You're worried about me? I should be worried about you."

"No, I'm alright." Roll grinned. "You're the one with the dangerous job."

X winced. "That dangerous job got you in trouble today. Roll, I don't want you leaving this building alone, not even to go into Arcadia. It's not safe for you out there, not with these new Mavericks coming after me like this. They're getting far too bold."

Roll wanted desperately to object, but all she could do was hang her head. Here she was, a robot well over a century old, being told what to do by her little brother. But it couldn't be helped. X was right.

"I understand. Well, I don't exactly go out often by myself anyway."

"Hey wait, weren't you like the defender of the earth or some crap like that?" Bass asked. "Axl said you were."

Roll blushed. "Not really. I never had to fight anything worse than mechaniloids, and I did more carpentry than fighting anyway. There were never any intelligent robots that needed defeating. I might have been able to defeat a couple of those dreadboy spiders, but Sultana was scary. And I thought she was so nice!"

"That's the worst part of all this." X said. "We're going to have to run inspections. Sultana had been working in Arcadia at that department store for at least two months."

"Someone definitely wants us to overreact to this." Zero said. "That much can be certain. It's a good thing that we set up the containment wall so quickly."

"Now we have to go through all those reploids and determine which do and do not have the virus." X winced at the thought. "That means more can get infected in the meantime."

Bass ignored their commentary. He was still looking at Roll, staring at her with concern. After a moment of deep thought, he made his decision.

"Roll, you're going to need some training."

"Training in what exactly?" X narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not talking to you." Bass snarled at the bomber before turning back to Roll. "You're going to have to learn to defend yourself, just in case something like this happens again but the Mavericks are better prepared."

"What?" X started. "You can't train her to fight!"

X did know better than to order Bass about, and the dark robot's growing malevolent aura reminded him that such hasty statements only produced the worst sort of reactions in Bass. His red eyes were terrifying, though this only brought up the same rage in X that existed only when he had to face a Maverick.

"I don't care what you think." Bass hissed. "I'm not leaving Roll practically defenseless."

"She's not a fighter, Bass." X insisted. "She doesn't belong on missions."

"Who said anything about missions? I just want her to not suck."

"Still, that doesn't mean she has to fight! That's what we're for, to fight so that she doesn't have to!"

"Look," Bass shoved a finger directly in X's face. "Rock told me to take care of Roll, so that means she's _my _responsibility, not yours, and I've got the data to prove it! And if I want her to learn about fighting, then what I say goes and you can shut up!"

X was starting to get stubborn himself, and he almost revealed his own nasty snarl. But he pulled back, containing himself. With pain he turned to his sister.

"Roll, you don't really want to do this, do you?"

She was having trouble maintaining eye contact. Roll didn't give up, but her eyes were wavering as she whisperingly said, "Why does it matter what I want? I know how you have to feel about this, but...it's really for the best."

Bass' assertive nod was far too determined for X's liking. "Good. Let's go."

"What, now?"

"Yep. I need a break from this stupid lab anyway."

Roll let herself look back uncertainly at her brother, her apology in her eyes. Only a second later she followed Bass out, who was obviously more eager to get away from X than any lab. X angrily watched them go. If robots weren't made of metal then the daggers shooting out of X's eyes would have killed Bass in five seconds.

"He is right." Zero said. "Roll isn't safe as long as people know who she is, besides looking vulnerable. It's not surprising that a Maverick would go after her."

"I know!" From his dejected position, a scowling X had a perfect view of his feet. "But this is Roll...she shouldn't have to be fighting at all."

Violence. It had troubled X all his life, and he wanted nothing more than to be able to give up on it and create a peaceful world. Today he seemed a lot farther away from that goal than ever before. Roll was so innocent; he couldn't help but think that way despite everything Roll had gone through. All of those troubles were harder for X to bear. His only knowledge of his sister before he met her was just her happy times with Mega Man and Dr. Light. Now she was learning violence herself, and becoming something different, something she never should have to become. More and more circumstances were pulling everything he held dear out of his control.

"A lot of things are that shouldn't be." was all that Zero could say. He knew it wasn't comforting.

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Author's notes:

-Gah. Okay, so I just wanted to put up something quick so that it's not forever until my next update.. Thanks to all my supporters out there. Y'all really keep me motivated to go on, and it's been harder lately. Well, I've got a bit to go, and you'll be able to see my evil plans soon enough. I think this story is going to end on an interesting note, if I can pull it off right. You just gotta trust me, y'all.

- I didn't want to have to do it again, but poor planning on my part makes me need to use reviewer Mavericks. I used up my eight original Mavericks perhaps too soon...maybe. The scheme they were pulling failed, so maybe it's better I got rid of them. I dunno. I just don't feel like making up new ones if I've got good ones already. Again, it's just a matter of inspiration which reviewer Maverick I use.

So here's more of 'em! From the favorites section, actually.

HiddenPersonality2

=====Cryptic Spook

**"You haven't seen lasers like this before."**

Cryptic is a lion. He has excellent vision, and is very quiet and subtle. That is, until he sneaks up behind you and goes in for the kill. His pads make no noise as he walks. Cryptic was made into a Maverick before his construction was finished, so he has never known life as a normal reploid. Cryptic can fade out and reappear, and will reappear behind the player when he shows up. He shoots lasers and a laser spread out of his mouth, but other than that fights with his teeth. The player that beats him gets Spook Shot, which fires a pulse that goes through all the enemies in front of you no matter how many it hits.

This one was kinda hard, but looking up the word hidden really brought out some good synonyms.

Garuru

======Polliwog Croaker

**"Hey you, get out of the way!"**

Polliwog's major advantage is that he is a very small Maverick, and very difficult to hit. His electric tongue does ridiculous damage, and he can steal your shots with his tongue and fire them back at you stronger than they were before. He also has a wide-arcing cannon that can spread into three shots and rain down on you. The player that beats Polliwog gets the Croaker Cannon, which fires his arcing shot and splits into three.

This one was easy. Garuru is a frog, so the synonyms were easy. Sometimes I try too hard to come up with good names, but really this one didn't need to be overcomplex.

FicReader101

======Savant Octavo

**"Brr...it's too cold in here."**

Savant is a huge squid that is capable of controlling the tempurature of water. He can freeze the player inside it or cause it to boil and ruin a computer's circuitry. The entirety of his level is a wrecked shipyard where he is constantly freezing or boiling the water. Savant can't do this to the water around him (it would kill him) but if you are near he can grab you and freeze you, or he can shoot out heat currents that can rip you apart. The player that beats him gets the Octavo Heatshield, which enables the player's armor to temporarily heat up and damage the enemies you touch rather than the opposite. You are able to do this as long as you have energy for it, and this energy is used up when you actually hit an enemy: it doesn't go away if you're just standing still.

This one I got from reader synonyms, and I really like the power you get from him.


	10. That Lack

"Aaah!"

Roll slammed down face first into the wooden floor, leaving a nasty scar in the training floor as she skidded along. Finally coming to a stop, Roll groaned and slowly picked herself up off the ground. A white hand reached with the silent offer to help her up, but Roll scoffed, not even bothering to slap it away.

"I'm only going to fall for that once." 

"Good." Bass pulled his hand back, maliciously grinning. "You should never let your guard down."

"You're teaching me to fight like a bad guy!" she snapped.

Bass only laughed at her scorn, pride and mockery filling the air around him. Roll was almost used to it; it was only more of the same that he'd been going on about for the past week. She just scowled at him, dusting herself off once she was back on her feet. The sight of her outfit made her wince. She should have known better than to get too attached to her cute fighter outfit, a sleeveless red number with black pants. Already it was scuffed, and a lot of the delicate lotus blossoms embroidered into it were torn and looking pretty shoddy. The gold thread was starting to come up. She glared at Bass.

"If you know how a bad guy fights then you'll win every time." he retorted. "Don't look at me like that. I'm saving your life. You're actually getting better. There's just one problem."

"And you know what I need?"

"I sure do." Bass folded his arms, gleefully letting his news sink in. "A new opponent. Your problem is you're fighting me. You can't ever hope to beat me, so you're getting discouraged."

"Right..."

"Hey, don't feel too bad. You're already better than Sonata when she started training."

"Really? There's no way."

"No, serious. She actually _cried_." Bass snorted. "I could barely get her to do anything for two years. You're already getting better than her. You've got great instincts."

_Some instincts when I get slammed into the ground every single time. _Roll huffed and settled down against the wall of the training room, doing a scan of her internal structural integrity. She impatiently blew some of her stray bangs from her face as the data filtered through her head.

_So I'm going to have to fight someone else. _she thought. _I wonder who it will be..._

Roll glanced around the room. There were only a few Hunters in the indoor training gymnasium, and they were over at the target practice area. She didn't know any of them, but there were so many Maverick Hunters travelling through the base there was no way to memorize all of them. Would Bass convince one of them to fight her? Would he get someone who looked stronger or weaker? Roll hoped it was weaker. If Forte was right about anything, it was her discouragement. She didn't feel at all confident to fight. If only Bass wouldn't make her!

Roll pushed aside a few stray bangs and glanced up. Bass wasn't talking to anyone about fighting his student. He leaned against the wall next to Roll, looking out at the other students. Axl was with them, showing a few of them the best way to deal with a Maverick that was holding a hostage. Bass never could hide his emotions, and a proud grin crept its way upwards. Blinking a moment, Bass turned down to his student curiously.

"So what's wrong with you?"

Roll started. The question was so abrupt that she wasn't entirely sure Bass was asking out of sympathy. But she knew she couldn't possibly read him these days. So much about Bass had changed that she wondered what in the world could have happened to him before she was rebuilt.

The girl-bot was slow in answering. "I can't be a Maverick Hunter."

"Of course not." Bass was matter-of-fact, and he folded his arms. "That's too dangerous for you."

"That's sort of not the point." she went on, lightly tracing a toe along the floor. "I mean, I'm no good at fighting, I'm not a technician and there's mechaniloids to do the cleaning. There's more to keeping house than simple cleaning, but this is pretty much a military organization and there's no place for my true talents. There's also no humans around here to work for. I feel like everyone's being nice to me just because I'm X's sister. It's not fair to everyone that they work so hard and here I am being a complete freeloader."

"You organized Signas' office." Bass snorted. "That was funny. And you are a good fighter, just not as good as me."

A little contemptful, Roll glared at the floor. "That's not important, and Signas doesn't need me to organize for him. I'm just useless these days."

"You keep emo-boy X from slitting his wrists. That's got to count for something."

"Are you always this insensitive?" Roll snapped, her innocent eyes glaring in a way they had learned when she had been Proto Bot. "Don't talk about him that way."

"It was just a joke."

"I don't care." Roll humphed. "He works really hard these days and I don't appreciate you mocking him."

Bass rolled his eyes, letting all the times Roll had nagged him in the past run through his head. Ignoring his own annoyance, Bass tried to be encouraging, looking at her with irritated determination. Not even in the face of nagging would he back down from a challenge. "Look, X wants you around. He'll find you a job. He rescues humans sometimes, so maybe I could get you to be some sort of combat nurse or something."

"Thanks, but I don't think X wants me anywhere near where a Maverick could get me."

Roll sighed. As much as she wanted to stay with the Hunters, there was no way that she could do it and still be useful. Signas didn't seem to mind too much that Roll had cleaned out his office, but at the same time it was a breach of security. She didn't have clearance to enter the office without Signas himself being there, and Roll flushed with embarrasment as she remembered Signas' calm but firm lecture. She was only trying to help, but even that got her in trouble. Now X didn't even let her outside Maverick Hunter's walls, not since Sultana Aubade's attack. How was she supposed to make herself useful?

"Don't feel so down about it." Bass said. "You're lucky to be here. Write a book on fashion or interior design or crap like that if you get bored. Or you can write about Dr. Light. Everyone would want to read it."

_That's actually a good suggestion._ Roll smiled. When she thought about her creator it made her warm inside, thinking about her happiest years. "Okay, but you'll have to help me put it together."

"Sure, I'll - " Stopping, Bass frowned. He lifted a hand to his auxillary auditory port, letting his lip tug his mouth into a gritting scowl. A second later it dropped and Bass grunted with apology. "Eh, that was X. I have to go to some kind of meeting. Get some target practice in before tomorrow and we'll practice more then. I'll have someone ready to fight you at eighteen hundred."

Six o'clock. Roll nodded. It was weird to her to use military time, but everyone at Maverick Hunters did, and it was just something that she couldn't quite get used to. She was surprised that Bass could - he was everything but military. Yet here the independent robot was walking off to see X and more than likely Signas as well so that they could complete an organized mission. The times really had changed. Axl too seemed to have been contacted, and Bass waved him over as he headed for the door. As merrily as he always did, Axl joined up with Bass and chatted on about how training had gone. Roll couldn't recall Bass ever putting up with so much talking all at once.

Roll watched them leave, and the sinking dread that lay dormant in her mind began to make itself known again. Times had changed for Bass, but not for her. She still had all the confusion that had met with her in the days after Dr. Light died.

_What can I possibly do now?_

She didn't want to be useless, and her talk with Bass had barely helped. She wished with all her heart that someone had a solution for her, but the gym had only a few Hunters, none of whom she knew, and both robots she relied on to stave off the dread were working. Her heard sinking, Roll went to go change out of her fighting clothes. At least the torn embroidery would distract her for a while. She wished she knew when X or Bass would be finished. Maybe Pallette would be off duty. Pallette was no good at sewing, but she would at least be good company for when Roll put all the delicate details of the gold thread back into place. She promised herself that she would make a new fighting shirt, a practical one, for the next day's fighting.

Unseen from his position behind a door, Bass watched Roll leave. It was obvious to anyone, even Bass, that she was unhappy. He winced.

_I'm going to have to fix that._

"Hey, c'mon, slowpoke!" Axl said with a wink. "I'm not going to wait for you all day."

"Say that again to my face, kid." Bass retorted with equal jest, sort of. "Quit your whining, I'm coming."

-t-

Roll, her mending in her matching cherry blossom bag, strolled down the halls of the Maverick Hunters and deciding in her mind how she would decorate the place if she could. The skyscraper's many hallways, offices, and laboratories were begging for practical decoration and repainting, and Roll let herself dream of how she'd keep it. But it wasn't her building, and the Hunter's vision of it was like a scientist's for a steel table: keep it clean and bare. No frills, no dust-gatherers, and no complications. Roll sighed.

_There's got to be someone I can be a maid for, or something!_

Roll passed by a computer lab. Thinking she was going straight on to get some needles and thread, Roll let the door go on by without notice. She changed her mind; maybe she could search the internet for new clothing designs. It would give her something to do. She entered the room, wincing at the messy cords that littered the floor. Had the wireless age simply gone by unnoticed? Roll crinkled her nose and persisted, stepping over the thick cords to find an empty computer.

There weren't a lot of people in the personal research computer lab, and the circular set of computers in the middle of the room were mostly empty. Only a few Hunters were there, contacting non-Hunters they knew outside the organization or doing individiual research. It took Roll a minute to remember why things were so quiet these days: a lot of the Hunters were off doing inspections to see if robot manufacturers were producing illegal copy chips. Roll started feeling sorry for Axl. More than once international law agencies called for an inspection of his copy chip. Fortunately it was normal - inferior to other copy chips, but safe.

Roll looked for anyone she knew. The few Hunters in the room waved (all of them knew who she was), but no one she knew closely. That counted for Zero as well. He was there, but she didn't know him well. He seemed nervous around her, and the more Roll thought about it, she realized that she had never seen him without X being around. For the moment he was calmly looking at the computer screen, as neutral as anyone else would. Roll, always mannerable, didn't look at what he was doing.

"Hi Zero!" Roll cheerfully sat at the computer next to him. "Good morning."

"Good morning." Zero answered. "Where is X?"

"Not here. He's meeting with Signas now. I sort of thought you would be with them."

"We don't do everything together."

Zero turned back to the computer screen. He was researching Sultana Aubade's influence outside of Arcadia to determine how far her influence went. She had connections into businesses, and these too turned back to the cryptic Spectral Saturnine. This was bothering Zero and the rest of the Hunters. Sultana's connections were all too easy to discover, but no one even knew Spectral's gender. Zero was reputed as the best Hunter of the group, and normally his mind was the first to untangle complex problems. What no one knew was that Zero's ability to decifer problems was due to being able to exclude out all distractions. He went over the information again, his eye glinting ever so slightly as he went over each detail. There had to be something he was missing.

He had been over all this before. There was little hope of disovering something new right away. He was working himself too hard again, and he knew it. The red reploid sighed, slumping back in his chair. That was when he noticed Roll turn her head back to her computer screen, clicking away at whatever she was interested in.

_That's weird. Was she looking at me?_

Ignoring it, Zero went back to his computer, typing in a command. A list of the next companies to be inspected popped up. He and X were going to have to do some travelling in the next months, particularly throughout Ukraine and going into Europe. Just because X had family didn't mean he could skip out on the long term trips. Zero felt bad for Roll. She hadn't been activated too long and now her brother was going to go off, leaving her only in the security of Hunters HQ.

_Well, at least she has Bass...ugh, poor Roll..._

Zero's glance made its way to Roll, and this time there was no mistaking it. She was staring at him. Once eye contact was made and her action was undeniable, Roll startled and blushed, a new feature of her modern skin.

"Oh, I'm sorry I was just...um, well..." she tried. "There's this thing I've been wanting to ask you for a while, and...well..."

No one alive could have seen Zero from the outside and know how his emotions melted inside of him. He just knew that Roll was going to ask him about his past, a part of him he continually tried to shut the door on, only to find someone's foot in the way every single time. Zero thought that he would finally be able to forget his origins, his creator, and his virus, but the reminders never faded away. It was torture to him that someone as innocent and kind as Roll would be one of them.

"May I please, _please_ brush your hair?"

Zero blinked. "Um, what?"

"It's just so nice and so long!" Roll pleaded. "Oh, please let me! Guy-bots never take care of that sort of thing! Rock used to always have the worst helmet-hair in the world and it drove me nuts but you have so much of it and it's so wonderful and if I can't fix it up properly I think I might _explode_!"

Zero was stunned. From Roll's tightly clasped hands to her wide, begging eyes, she was the picture of sincerity. Zero was a little insulted that she would imply he couldn't deal with his own hair, but all he ever did was keep it from tangling. Roll would probably want to make it look nice or something, and the reploid wasn't so sure he was willing to let that happen. But who can say no to Roll?

"Alright." Zero answered without realizing it. "I guess."

Roll clapped her hands eagerly, letting nothing else delay her from digging in her bag and pulling out a brush and comb. She relished each item with delight, then promptly abandoned her belongings in her chair and got behind Zero's, waving him off.

"Go on, don't let me bother you!" Roll joyfully directed him back to his computer. "I promise I won't tug on your hair."

Reluctantly, Zero went back to his inpections list. He had to review the specific instructions for each manufacturer and know how to question them and what to look for. He couldn't afford to play the inspections by ear. All the same, it was a little distracting for Roll to brush his hair. He never let anyone mess with it, not even Pallette, who frequently hassled him about it. Zero was surprised that he was letting Roll. But her hands were gentle, and he could barely tell that she was doing anything. His hair was long enough, so when he turned to look he saw that she was running a comb through only the ends.

Roll noticed him, and she grinned pertly, like someone with experience or a clever secret. "You have to start down and work your way up. Otherwise you'll only make the tangles worse. Your hair is so wonderful! I honestly can barely believe that someone like Wily made this. He always was strange at designing things, but this is wonderful! It's like strands of gold! I'm so jealous."

Zero went back to the computer without answering. He didn't know what Roll was jealous of; her hair was just fine, and he couldn't really tell the difference between theirs anyway. Zero lifted his shoulders in a tense sigh.

"Oh, don't be that way." she said, humming a little as she continued. "Being built by Wily is nothing to be ashamed of, whatever Bass says. Hmph, he'd complain about Dr. Wily all day but in the end I think he's happy enough to be built by the second best robot technician there ever was."

"Skill isn't the problem."

Zero tensed as he spoke, but Roll dismissed it immediately, and the concern dissipated in the midst of her calm. "Don't let it bother you. It doesn't mean anything that Wily built you. After all, Wily and Dr. Light were partners, and Wily even helped building me and Rock."

"What?" Zero turned around again, not as far this time as Roll had worked her way mid-through his locks. "That can't be true."

"It is." Roll said as she lifted the comb for another stroke. "Wily was more involved with the other six robot masters - that's Elec Man, Fire Man, and the others - than he was with us, but still, he helped Dr. Light with some of our mental security features. In fact, the only robot there is that hasn't been designed with Wily's influence is Proto Man. Now hold still. You've got a pretty nasty snarl in here."

_And I'm based from him. _Zero noted. _Made from the only robot Wily had no control over. That's got to mean something._

"Bass said I was made from Proto Man's design." Zero said, getting back to work. He was starting to feel a little more comfortable.

"You do sort of look like him, in the armor anyway." Roll said. "And you're quiet like him. Proto Man was always lonely...he never said anything, but there was something troubling him that he couldn't tell us. He was afraid of it making us judge him. And...oh! That's actually pretty similar to..." Roll cut herself off, not wanting to say too much in front of other reploids. They didn't seem to be listening, but that was no reason to take a risk. Zero had to know she was talking about him. "Well, you know. I miss him. I barely got to know him at all, before...I should stop talking about this."

Roll giggled, distracting herself from thinking of dark times. How did she ever get to be so gloomy? It seemed that all she had to talk about were the bad things going on or people she missed. "Don't let me distract you from your work."

"It's alright." Zero answered.

Her brushing his hair was bad enough, so adding talking to that wasn't a big deal. Zero wished she would go on. It was nice to listen to her. She really was very sweet.

"Tell me more about Proto Man."

"Well, Proto Man was always watching out for my brother, even when he was being all secretive. He helped Rock so many times when he was in danger, like when part of Wily's fortress fell on him or when Dark Man attacked him, or when Dr. Wily tried to trick Rock using a Dr. Light robot. After a while, when he was around more often, he would tell me all kinds of stories about the places he visited - Venice, Tumen, Moscow, Ibiza...he did all the coolest things! He even brought me one of those nice Indian dresses from Amritsar. He always knew what I liked!"

Zero had to admit that he didn't care that much about fashion, and for that matter he wasn't particularly keen on travelling, especially to the more touristy cities. All the same, that didn't stop him from enjoying what Roll had to say. It was fluffy conversation, something Zero almost never heard. It was a nice change from all the talk of Mavericks and battles and weapons upgrades. So he let her go on about stories from afar. He was surprised how much work he could get done while she was talking.

A beeping sounded on Zero's computer, and he clicked on a small, round icon on the lower right border. A viewscreen of Bass standing inside Signas' office appeared, and though his expression was gruff at first, at the sight of Zero he cracked a smile.

"Sorry to interrupt your little slumber party, _ladies_, but we need Zero here for a briefing."

Zero winced, frowning. He was not in the mood for Bass' crap. "She's just brushing my hair, Bass. Feel free to grow up any time now."

"Oh, _really_?" Bass grinned devilishly. "So you didn't notice that she's almost done braiding your hair?"

"What? Roll!"

Zero swung around, tugging his hair away from her grasp to get a look at it. It was indeed done in a complex French braid that went through four feet of his hair. Exasperated, Zero glared at Roll, silently demanding an explanation.

"Bass! If you hadn't said anything then I could have finished!" Roll protested at the computer screen.

"I'm sorry!" Forte laughed. "I really am! Ahahaha!"

"Zero has his hair braided?"

From Bass' side of the conversation, X came within view for a look, snorting with laughter at once. He tried to stifle it with a hand over his mouth, but it didn't work.

"Why Zero...you look...erm...'nice'..."

"I want to see, I want to see!" Axl shoved his way in for a look, grinning from ear to ear. He too slapped a hand over his mouth once he caught sight of the offending hairstyle. "_Mmffffnt_! Oh man, that's hilarious! I like your new style, Zero!"

Zero scowled as he reached back and started pulling out the braidwork. "Thanks for your support, guys."

"Don't!" Roll protested. "It will keep your hair from getting in the way when you fight, and you'll have less tangles too! Come on, in ancient China men would wear braids!"

"Do I look Chinese to you?" Zero kept tugging at his locks.

"Does he look like a man to you?"

Bass couldn't resist that crack, and though usually X was on Zero's side, he couldn't help but be overcome by the mirth. Zero scowled and kept going, wondering how in the world she got those tight plaits in his hair so quickly. He turned his evil glare from the computer screen to Roll.

"Stay away from my hair from now on."

Roll was at once horrified. "I'm sorry! I just couldn't help it...it's such wonderful hair! No one else has nice long hair like that, and I just wanted to try out a new braid type! I was going to take it out! Honest! It's just so nice...you have the best hair in the Maverick Hunters!"

Zero finally finished pulling each plait out of his shimmering locks and stared down at Roll. She did look sincere, and sorry at that. Zero nonetheless got the feeling that his hair was simply too much for her to resist doing something weird to it. Her fingers were still restlessly wriggling as if they could braid the air. And it was true that none of the girl-bots' hair reached even near the lengths his did. A new grudge for Dr. Wily appeared - why did he have such ridiculous hair? What madman would think to include something like that on what was supposed to be the "greatest of all his creations"? He really was a mad scientist.

"It didn't look that strange." X tried to comfort him. "And I guess you could try changing it. You've had your hair the same way ever since I've known you. Roll, do you know any...um, masculine hairstyles?"

Axl and Bass burst into fresh laughter and Zero felt like he was never going to stop glaring. "No. My hair is fine the way it is. Thank you, Roll."

Roll bit her lip, stung by the dry sarcasm. Here she was, going too far again, just like when she had cleaned Signas' office. She just wanted to help, and she was making it worse, and she worried that Zero was mad at her.

Annoyed, Zero gave a look around the room. The hairstyle and conversation hadn't been in a box; the few reploids there were quietly chuckling amongst themselves and trying to hide it. Zero shook his head.

_At least this comical imagery will keep people from being afraid of me..._ Outloud, a wry Zero continued. "I'll be right there. As I recall, Bass did say something about a briefing."

Zero shut down the computer and readied his teleporter, only to glance down at Roll. The poor girl looked dejected as she silently gathered her things. She reached over to the computer she had been at, quietly shut if off and readied herself to leave, wherever she had in mind to go.

"Hey, Roll."

She looked up at him, apology still in her eyes.

"It was kind of funny." Zero winked.

That got a smile from the housekeeper-bot, and Zero teleported away. But still Roll sighed. She was now utterly bored. And if there was some sort of mission going on that involved X, Zero, and Axl, then their navigators were going to be just as busy. No hope of company from them. Worst of all Bass was involved too. Roll wondered when she had become so unsocial; it seemed like she hardly knew anyone these days, and it wasn't as if she didn't have plenty of opportunity to get to know some of the Hunters better. All of them wanted to meet X's sister. Roll reluctantly glanced at the other Maverick Hunters, willing herself to want to talk to them. But she found she didn't really want to. It was the dread, still holding her back.

She gave up. There wasn't anything for her to do there. Roll began to wish that she had bought some sort of journal when she had last been out of HQ, but as it was she merely picked up her bag and left the room. She was going to need to decide what to do soon. Not having anywhere specific to go, Roll found herself wandering down towards the research lab. Her feet were used to going that direction, as she spent much of her time there just hanging out as Bass worked on curing the Maverick virus. It felt terrible to go there alone. It really wasn't much better with Bass there, though.

Roll stopped in front of the lab doors. They were large. Not very imposing, maybe, but to Roll they might as well have been the entrance to a grim castle or gloomy hall of vast, dusty tomes. Was any part of this over-industrialized place any different? Dr. Light's lab was more of a home than it was anything else, and that home had a place for Roll. Here? Not so much.

Roll made firm decision right there and then. She was going to speak to Signas. And she was going to find a way out, doing something useful.

She pushed a button on the side and the doors _shwooshed_ open. Roll entered, hoping perhaps to find a quiet corner to sit in. And of course that was when she realized that it would have been better to stay in the personal computer lab. There she would be able to try and find a job. Those logical thoughts took the back burner. For a moment Roll found herself distracted by Pallette and Layer hurrying about the lab.

"Alright, I only need three more data coils." Layer said, managing a better calm of the two. "Is the sensor array upgrade chip ready?"

"Alia said she finished it last night, and it's..." Pallette scanned a table full of circuitry whatnots and discs, joyfully picking up the device before answering. "...Right here! Okay, I'll get the data coil on the south Okinawa Mavericks."

"Uh," Roll said nervously. "Anything I can do to help?"

"No, we got it, Roll! Thanks!" Pallette answered as she pressed the security buttons on the console to produce the correct data coil. "Hey Layer, Zero wanted that back scan of west Acadia, right?"

"Yes, he did." Layer held up two round orange things that looked uncannily like the screw-in part of a light bulb. "If you get that, I think we'll have what we need."

"Good!"

Roll went over to the side. The data ports in the research lab were near the entry way on the right, so Roll quickly scuttled over to the left where the CPU scanner pads and tables were. In her hurry to get out of the way, she didn't at first notice the dark presense sitting at the one of the computer consoles.

"Oh! I didn't see you there, Bass." Roll said. "Aren't you going out on the mission?"

As he slowly turned to face her, his glare was awful. Thankfully his head lowered, and he didn't direct its complete force at her. The cloud of darkness around him thickened as he tried to stare a hole through the research computer he was unenthusiastically attempting to work at. This work added up to about two keytaps and a mouse click about every thirty seconds. Roll backed away slowly. No matter how much he had changed, a mad Bass did not good company make.

"Don't let him bother you." Layer said casually as she placed her data coils into a plastic, foam-lined case. "He's just grumpy because he's not allowed to go on the mission."

"Didn't those last upgrades work?" Roll glanced back at Bass. "I thought he was going to be able to fight more often now."

Bass slumped more as Pallette answered. "No. Poor guy's uncompatible with that kind of plasma generator."

_" - Layer, Pallette, where are you? - " _Alia's voice came over the comm. _" - The guys are leaving in less than a minute. Get down here! - "_

_" - We're coming, Alia. - " _Layer answered calmly, eyeing Bass a bit. _ " - We'll be there in a second. - "_

"I got everything I need!" Pallette chirped. "You?"

"Yes. Let's get going."

"Right!"

The navigators teleported out. To Roll it was always weird to watch reploids teleport: it just looked so different. She guessed that teleportation must have advanced quite a bit since her time. She didn't care. What did it matter? Roll turned away, thinking of leaving. A grumpy Bass was hardly worth being around, and she didn't feel up to it. All the same, she glanced again in his direction.

He wasn't there. The computer was at the log out screen, no longer whatever he had been researching. Looking around, Roll found no sign of him.

_I didn't hear the doors open..._

Roll checked the teleportation log. It was as she thought. He had teleported out without scrambling his coding, at least not enough that anyone in the Maverick Hunters couldn't easily detect it.

_That's weird. He never does that. Or does Signas make him?_

The girl-bot, with nothing better to do, quietly went and sat down at the computer. She didn't know why; it wasn't as if she had a password to the research lab's computer. Possible passwords floated through Roll's mind as she aimlessly tried to guess what he would choose.

"Oh, that's right. They get assigned passwords." Roll muttered. "I can't guess what it could be. Nice of him to leave me here by myself. Jerk..."

But he hadn't scrambled the teleport. He had to know that she would be able to find him. Roll slumped. He probably did it so that she would know he was still around. Why did she believe that? It only seemed to make sense with who he had become.

"It's not fair." Roll humphed, folding her arms in a sincere pout. "Even Bass is doing a better job adjusting than I am."

All of this was just speculation, and none of it answered the question of what Roll was going to do next. Still pouting, she looked at the teleportation numbers, tense. Bass was probably still angry, and she didn't recognise the coordinates. Wherever he might have gone wouldn't necessarily be safe for her to go. Staying behind would be worse, she decided. The big lab was cold and empty, and Roll did not want to stay there. Questioning her choice for only a moment, Roll teleported away.

The place where she arrived was not where she expected. The first thing she noticed was a color scheme change - the blacks, silvers, and greys of the lab faded into a shimmering, foggy set of blues. It was evening time, wherever this place was, and the darkness of the rocky soil was not a dead, mechanical black, but a meditative shade of the same. The fog rose from about five feet away, and Roll cautiously stepped forwards, only to cut short her advance almost at once.

She was at the edge of a great cliff, and from the rushing and sweeping sounds of it, the ocean was below. She peered down quickly too see a drop yards and yards below, only to dart back up with a shudder. Roll never was one much for heights. Yet even then the calm of the place seemed to take over. Looking straight forward produced a magnicent view of gloomy clouds - they were indeed gloomy, but it was sort of a happy gloom, one that waved hello before going about its haunted business. They were fluffy things, and the wind was blowing them out into the distance. There was no shortage of clouds, however, and the big, fluffy things would keep passing that way for a while. The fog wasn't eager to let up either, and it created a mystical atmosphere, one of absolute peace. It wasn't a warm peace, but a compromise; it did not deny any sadness, but regarded it with fateful irony - could any weather truly sympathize?

_Why would Bass come here?_ Roll wondered. _There's nothing here he would like. It is pretty, though. Is there a building or something nearby?_

There was nothing but expanse to the right, but to the immediate left the fog cleared, revealing more rocks and boulders. It was a minature peak at the side of the cliff, as if some giant had stacked a pile of rocks and left them there to syncronize with the environment for a few centuries. It stretched upwards about fifteen feet, and at the top of it all sat Forte, staring directly down at Roll.

"Oh...um, I'm sorry..." she piped up timidly. "I didn't mean to intrude, I just..."

Talking too much seemed weird there, and Roll had no conscious explanation for her appearance that she didn't think was too awkward to say in front of Bass. Roll didn't think that he would understand her loneliness. His look, however, said otherwise. As much as she expected him to yell at her to go away or snarl or do something mean, he did nothing of the sort. He just sort of...blinked. Something about him was settled, calm but sad. He matched with perfection the mood of the foggy cliffside, even if his coloration was nothing like it. Maybe all of the dreariness of the place had all come from the aura of gloom that eminated from Bass, if the opposite wasn't true.

"Nah, it's okay. I don't mind."

Roll leaned her head to the side, a little confused. "Um...can I come up there?"

"Sure."

Now that was the last thing she expected him to say.

Roll climbed up on the boulders, and it took her a minute to get to Bass. He was sitting on the very top of it, and since there was only enough room for one person there, Roll aimed for the rock a little lower than the peak. Bass reached down and hauled her up the last foot, and she settled comfortably as she could at about the level of Bass' knee.

_No wonder Bass likes it here...you can see so much. Wait, Bass likes scenic vistas?_

Roll looked up at Forte, and it did seem that he enjoyed looking outwards. He was almost meditating on the tragic blueness of the place. He was absorbed into the cliffside environment, and Roll too found herself entranced by the fog. She noticed that the stars were starting to appear in the cracks between the clouds. Soon it would be a starry evening. She wondered where exactly this place was.

"Hey, I'm sorry about earlier." Bass said, breaking the silence. "I was...angrier than I needed to be."

"It's okay." Roll said. "You weren't that bad."

The quiet and the calm took back over for a minute, but Roll didn't give into it again quite yet. She was pondering, and after a minute, she spoke up again.

"Why didn't they let you go on that mission?"

Bass wrinkled, uncomfortably hanging his head. "They said that I'm too weak, that this mission's more than I can handle and the operatives that have been working as a team longer should be the ones to go."

Each word Forte spoke was bitterer than the last, and it hurt him to say each one. Since when did he talk like that? Roll desperately tried to get him to take confidence again.

"But you can be upgraded." she protested. "You don't have to always stay behind. I mean, once you're better you can learn to work with everybody else. Just because that one plasma thing didn't work doesn't mean something else won't."

"No." Bass was abrupt. "I can't be upgraded. I'm too old and no one knows old machinery. I'm incompatible with modern technology. They make everything for reploids these days. Trust me, I've tried everything I know."

"That can't be...I mean, Zero's been repaired plenty of times. They've upgraded him, haven't they?"

Bass shook his head. "Not a lot. Besides, Wily made him a lot more adaptable, and he's technically a reploid. He's Wily's 'masterpiece', and I'm just a stupid copy of Rock." Bass slouched further, bitterly resting his head in one hand. "Even worse, the methods Crystal Bot used to repair me are custom - her own thing. Even if people knew how to make old robots again, I'm completely different and it just wouldn't work. I'm just obsolete!"

He ended with his eyes tightly closed, lost in melancholy. When he opened them again, he was lost again in the midst of the haunted night, silent with his mouth tightly shut. Roll wanted to cry. It was worse for him than it ever was for her. All Roll wanted was a purpose and her family, and she had at least X. Bass was going to have to change his entire identity just to keep on living. He would have to abandon his true, fighter-bot self for...something.

She looked up at him again, studying his meditation into the clouds. "It's weird. I don't think I've ever seen you alone. You always seemed to have someone. You always seemed attached at the hip to Treble, and even after...that, you had Crystal Bot." Bass didn't answer, and after a moment Roll asked, "You miss her, don't you?"

"Sort of. She was annoying." Bass sighed, allowing himself a slight smile. "Sometimes she was so smart, but other times it felt like Sonata had to have everything explained to her like a kid."

It wasn't long before his smile faded away, leaving behind a quietness something like meditation. Roll stared out at the cliffside, understanding. This place wasn't much for talking, she thought. It was simply too beautiful. Roll found herself wishing she were human. Places like this had an almost magical affect on them, and yet somehow she felt she wasn't missing out on too much.

A long drawn out sigh sounded behind her, and Roll noticed that Bass seemed to like it there better than she did. His lips were ever so slightly upturned, and he cast off a pale, weak, but stubborn contentedness. It plain shocked Roll. Bass wasn't like that; he didn't calm down quickly or enjoy views or sit quietly like the emo kid he was always calling X. It dawned on the girl-bot that she never really knew Bass in the past. He had his business of being a fighter-bot, and she was always at home. Why would their paths cross at all?

"Hey Roll." he said. "Do you believe in God?"

"Where did that come from?" Roll asked.

"I don't know." Bass shrugged. "I'm just curious."

Roll hadn't thought about that kind of thing in a long time. As Proto Bot, she hadn't the capacity to think about it. And now she had to admit that acknowledging the spiritual was something she had been avoiding.

"No." she was slow to tell him, but it was the only honest answer she could give. "I used to, but...no."

"Oh." This answer didn't seem remarkable to Bass one way or another, and he just went on looking out into the distant ocean. "I think I do."

"Why's that? It's not like a robot can go to heaven or anything like that."

Bass shook his head almost lazily, and his response was just as relaxed. "No, I don't care about that. That's not the point. I believe because of the apocalypse. Not the robot one. The real one at the end of everything: humans, earth...all that stuff."

"That's...pretty weird, Bass."

He chortled a bit. "Yeah, I guess so. It's just nice to know that all this crap like the Mavericks, it's going to all go away. No crime, murder, sickness...it'll all be gone for good. There won't be anything left but the truth."

Roll did like the sound of that, as melancholy as it was. All the same, it made her feel a little sick. Inwardly she felt angry. Why wait until the end of time for that kind of thing?

"I wish he would do something about it now, if he's real." Roll looked up at him, confused. "I mean, how can you believe like that? After all that's happened?"

"Eh, if God's real, he's real whether we believe or not." Bass paused for a moment, thinking for a minute before he answered more personally. "I guess if I want to be honest, it's because of Dr. Light. You remember when he was sick and in the hospital that last year he was alive?"

How could he bring up a time like that? Roll shuddered. "I try not to think about it."

"Of course you wouldn't. You were with him for years and you knew him when he was healthier. You can afford to forget." Forte's mood, which had been stable for a length of the conversation, mellowed at this point. "But I can't. That's the time all I had to be around Dr. Light - a few months before he died."

Roll gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. She never thought of it like that before. Memories about how wonderful her creator had been flooded her head, and it was a terror to think of losing them. What right did she have to complain when things were like this for Bass? Roll could only imagine how horrible Dr. Wily had been to him. Dr. Light must have been amazing by comparison. Seeing her horror, Bass warmed a little. He was happy that she cared.

"The thing that impressed me the most about him was that even though he was dying, it never got to him. He just dealt with it the best that he could. No matter what was going on, he was just fine. It helps me...reminds me that no matter how bad things get here...I can't give up. That's why I believe in God. It's just that hope that somebody's in control of all this crap. It was bad enough working for Wily," Bass scowled here. He could never think of his creator without that look. "And now there's so much worse stuff going. Rock...your stupid brother, he actually had me fooled for a while. He would always talk about his stupid fantasy where Wily is defeated forever and then everything will be fine. He was wrong, and I actually fell for it!"

Bass stopped himself, sighing. "I believe in God not because someday things are all magically going to be better, but because I have to live. It's just...easier." Bass' mood rose into one of irony as he grinned down at Roll. "Besides, how the crap was it possible that I found you in the junkyard?"

"Oh please, that's just coincidence." Roll scoffed, wanting to change the topic.

"Yeah right. So some guy _just happens _to dig in his backyard, and you _just happen_ to be there, and then I'm randomly at the right junkyard at the exact time he's there trying to dump you. Some coincidence."

Roll didn't answer. She did have to admit that that was a lot of variables. She reached down, tugging at her shoe's buckle. It had come loose while she had climbed up the rocks.

"What were you doing at the junkyard anyway?"

Bass froze, and had Roll been looking at his expression, he would have been caught at once. But the moment passed quickly, and Forte regained control of his facial features, soothing them back into a more indifferent expression. His voice was a harder task.

"Nothing. I was just lost."

It worked. Roll was still too innocent to associate junkyards with suicide - a great relief to Bass. Her task of fixing her shoe complete, Roll sat back up and smoothed her shirt, continuing to enjoy the quietness of the place. More of the clouds had blown away, and some of the stars were beginning to show as night began.

"A long time ago," Roll said. "When Crystal Bot told me you wrote that philosophy book, I didn't believe her. It didn't seem like you to write something like that. Or to write at all, really. But now...were you really always this philosophical? It's sort of hard to believe."

"Eh, I'm always thinking about things." Bass shrugged. "It just didn't occur to me for a long time to write it down."

"Well, you don't have to act so...I dunno, macho all the time." she said, smiling at him. "Sona-chan was always saying how nice you are. Good to know that it's true. It won't kill you if people see you being sensitive for once. You put up just as much of a front as Proto Man did."

"Sonata was nuts, I'm _not_ nice. Compare me to Proto Man again and you'll see."

Bass grew slightly sour as he spoke, but there was no bitterness in his tone. The environment absorbed any dark emotion; it couldn't last there. Roll only laughed stretching out her legs lightheartedly. Not too lightheartedly, though. The fog, sky, and cliffs absorbed that emotion too.

"Oh, I don't believe you for a second." she said. "You're always nice to me."

"I have to be nice to you. I promised."

Curious, Roll couldn't stop herself from asking, "I don't annoy you when I'm in the lab all the time?"

She half expected him to say that she did, but he only shook his head. "Nah. You're alright."

For some reason, this answer bothered Roll. It just didn't fit Bass. His voice was weighed down by something she couldn't put her finger on. And why wouldn't she be an annoyance to him? She always had been before. Roll guessed that since she wasn't in control of anything she had no way of nagging him; in the past she only saw Bass if he happened to stop by the lab or was seeing Dr. Light in the hospital. Both the lab and Dr. Light were Roll's responsibility, and she was very protective. Now that she had nothing, there was far less opportunity for them to annoy each other.

_Oh no, why did I have to remember?_

A sob broke though, and Roll tried to hold it in. All effort was useless in the face of the memory of Dr. Light, pale and sickly in the hospital bed. Thinking about him was just too hard. The sobbing only became worse the longer the girl-bot fought it, and she doubled over in the effort, her shoulders shaking.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Sorry...I'm sorry..." she said, rubbing her eyes. "I just...I was...Dr. Light...he had that computer and everything...but we never saw him again...it's not fair!"

That said everything. Bass was silent, as sympathy only produced awkwardness in him. But he did reach down and touch Roll on the shoulder. Her weeping slowed, and she leaned against the rock Bass was sitting on.

"Try not to think about it too much." Bass tried to sound comforting. "He wouldn't want you worrying about him like this."

Roll focused on clearing her thoughts. She didn't want to cry and here it was forcing itself out. It was difficult, but she managed at least to get it down to sniffling. She did this the only way she could, by remembering what she still had. This helped very much, and she calmed down.

"Thank you." she said, taking a deep breath. "It's good to know that I still have two of my brothers left."

"Two?" Bass asked. "What, was Signas secretly built by Dr. Light or something?"

Roll turned and stared at him, her wide eyes telling him that it should be completely obvious. Bass frowned, completely confused. He knew he should guess right, but he was completely clueless.

"You, you dork!" Roll laughed. That also made her feel better. "You know Dr. Light pretty much adopted you."

Bass' face crumpled in an awkward smile as he drew his eyes shut. It was just as hard for him to remember, but he took it with more pride. Dr. Light had been the reason he had changed his life for good, and without the gracious scientist's influence, Roll had no idea what would have become of him. Roll was glad it made him happy.

"He always used to say how intelligent you were." she said. "And how nice. Now you're a scientist just like Dr. Light."

And the dark robot's smile grew even more awkward. The whole "happy smile" thing, absent of any hint of smirk or malicious glee, was more or less unknown to him, Roll guessed. She liked it anyway. It was the thought that count.

"Pssht," he said, coming right back around to a smirk. "I bet you didn't believe him when he said that."

Roll blushed. Bass scoffed with amusement, shaking his head.

"Well, I believe in you now, definitely!" she encouraged him. "And even then I believed in what Rock and Dr. Light saw in you."

Bass knew that already, and he settled down, becoming more moody as he once again turned his attention to the vast distance. Some new idea must have shown itself, and Roll could only guess at what it could be. Not a good one, by any means. All merriment left Bass, and he solemnly rested his chin in one of his palms, letting himself meditate on whatever occupied him. This made Roll nervous. She didn't want him to think about sad things.

_This stupid, dark sky..._she inwardly huffed. _The clouds are coming back out and covering the stars. How can anyone possibly be happy in a place like this?_

Roll let it alone. Bass had to deal with his issues in one way or another, and she surmised that he preferred to do it out of the sight of everyone. It made her feel almost priviliged that she got to stay there with him. While part of her felt that she should be quiet, a question arose, one she had vague curiousity about.

"You really are nice." Her hushed voice appeared from seemingly nowhere. "I'm actually surprised how well you get along with Zero. Why is that?"

As it goes with that sort of question, Roll only realized how risky it was once it was out there in the air. Bass' frown deepened, but it didn't make him angry.

"Eh...he's alright. A lot less crazy than I expected." Bass said. "He's really not much like the robot masters. He's tolerable."

"It must make it easier on you to know that Wily would be mad at him for being a good guy." Roll mentioned. "I mean, I know how much you hated him in the past. I'm sort of surprised you haven't tried to kill him by now."

For a second it looked like Bass might laugh, but it caught in his throat. "Nah, that's not it. Zero knows exactly how much he's messed up the future and he hates it. I talked to him a while back, and I got the idea if he could just somehow blow up and make everything alright again, he would."

"You mean if you killing him would make everything alright again, he'd let you."

Bass grinned ever so slightly, until that grin was lost only a moment later. Fatefulness marked his voice as he said, "Yeah. I'd need a time machine for that."

It took Roll a minute, but even then a horrible realization came to her. With horror the truth grew in her mind, and it poisoned like a sickening doubt. Bass didn't tolerate Zero because of anything they had said, but for one reason above all others: Bass took Zero's guilt as his own. It was all over his face. If he had killed Zero when he'd had the chance to, then none of it would have happened. Forte had specifically taken this responsibility on himself right away after leaving Wily, and even with five years at his disposal, he had failed.

"It's not your fault." Roll spoke up reluctantly. "You didn't know what Wily was planning to do."

"I spent almost twenty years with that man." Bass hissed through firmly clenched teeth. "I should have known."

"Don't say that!" Roll protested, gaining courage. "How could you possibly know? I mean, think about every time Dr. Wily tried to take over the world. Every single one of his schemes was dumber than the last. This last one was brilliant by comparison. Nobody ever knew he was capable of doing something not goofy. Not Rock, not Dr. Light, not anybody! We all underestimated him, and with his track record why wouldn't we? Oh, well, maybe he might have planned for us to underestimate him."

Bass scoffed. "Not likely. That old crackhead thought all of his plans were smart." He blinked as he spoke, his tone softening as he realized that he was proving Roll's point. "Heh, see, you're useful after all."

Roll thought back to their earlier conversation. She did say that she was useless to the Hunters, and she wasn't automatically swayed toward a new opinion by Bass' compliment.

"That's not the same. I still don't have a job."

Roll sighed. She knew she was going to have to say something at one point or another, so she figured she'd go ahead and get it out there before telling X, who would certainly take it harder.

"I want to leave the Maverick Hunters."

"What?" Bass exclaimed. "Who said you could do that?"

"I was going to wait until I got approval from Signas to tell people about it," Roll said. "But I might as well just get it out in the open now. I want to do something that makes an effort to help people, and all of my skills are oriented to human care. There's a nursing home near here, and once X is done clearing out the Mavericks in Arcadia it'll be safe for me there."

"Didn't you do that before?" a both confused and annoyed Bass asked. "I thought you hated that job."

"I want to do something useful, and that's better than sitting here doing nothing. How do you know I didn't like it?"

"Crystal Bot told me. She never knew when to shut up about other people's business." Bass said. "Now don't change the subject! You're not leaving and that's final!"

Roll scowled. "You can't tell me what to do! Honestly, do you just want me staying here and getting in the way? I'm not a soldier or a scientist, and I can't stand just being underfoot while more important things are going on. I need to be doing something that counts or I'm going to go out of my mind."

Having made her point, the girl-bot settled into a good pout, indignantly slumping and with her limp hands in her lap. She refused to believe that he would understand her, stubbornly refusing to think otherwise. It surprised her how annoyed she was about it, though she knew this issue was not new. No one had understood before, so why would they now?

"Roll, listen to me." Bass tried again, calmer. "I don't think you know how important you are here to X. And to me...hell, do you think I want to be stuck here working in that stupid lab all the time? Training you keeps me sane. Working on that stupid virus is going to be the end of me. And I'm not letting you go anywhere until I think you can defend yourself good enough."

Roll sighed. "It's nice of you to care, but that's just not enough. I can't stay here and do nothing. I just...can't."

Bass paused a minute. He let several empty seconds go by before responding. The mellow wind was starting to blow faster, and it filled the air almost like words.

"I don't want you to leave." Bass said, unable to come up with anything better. "It's bad enough you'd be leaving, but it's even worse that you'd be doing something that doesn't make you happy."

"You figure if I'm going to be unhappy it might as well be with the Hunters, right?"

"Er...something like that." Bass stared off out into the sky as he continued. "You're always cheering up X, but you also help me. It's not any easier for me now in this messed up year than it is for you. More than that, I made a promise to Rock to take care of you. I know it's not like me to take something like that seriously, but I'm not going to just forget about it. Watching out for you I feel like is the one last thing I can do to honor Dr. Light's memory. If I can find something for you to do here, promise me you'll stay...alright?"

There was no answer for a moment. Roll's meek voice piped up, confusion in her tone.

"Um...Bass?"

The dark robot looked down, only to find that his hand was enmeshed in her hair, and the poor girl-bot was staring at him with every bit of awkwardness she possessed. He had been scratching her behind her ear.

"Gah!" Bass whipped his hand back in horror. "Sorry! I'm used to Treble!"

Bass facepalmed, embarrassed out of his mind. Roll was still biting her lip, but not from embarrasment. She tried to hold in her laughter, but it didn't work. Giggling escaped, and after that Roll couldn't hold it in. It was just too funny.

"Stop it!"

"But it's funny!"

"I said, _stop it!_"

Bass' growl put an end to the laughter immediately. Scared, Roll turned toward him to find the old Bass: snarling, prideful, and pissed off. Roll hadn't seen that look in a long time, and it frightened her no less than the first. Even Bass seemed to think it was too much, and his menacing fangs retracted a little. It didn't help much.

"Go away." he said.

"Bass, I'm sorry-"

"Go away!"

With that, Forte folded his arms and looked away, waiting for her to go. Roll felt bad, but she knew there was no point in talking to him when he was being this stubborn. She teleported out, and the dreaded walls of the research lab replaced the blue environment. Roll went over to a chair and slumped over in it, feeling dwarfed in its large seat. It was annoying to be so short all the time.

"This is horrible..." she whispered. "There he was pouring his heart out and I laughed at him."

Part of her still thought it was terribly funny, but this only resonated sour in her heart. Bass for once was being open, and she had to go and ruin it.

"He's used to Treble, huh?"

Roll was a little offended. She didn't see that she had that much in common with a giant purple wolf. She didn't get very far into that thought before the truth hit her in the face. He was used to Treble because that's how they used to be. It was Bass' personality to not be open to others, but he couldn't keep up the charades all the time. In his heart he was as vulnerable as anyone else, unless his pride made him more so. Treble was the one he talked to because Treble was loyal to no one else and could keep his darkest secrets. Roll felt instantly worse.

_He must have been trying to do the same with me._ She was too afraid to say this out loud. _I guess there's nobody around that can understand him as much. I'm such a jerk..._

She slumped further in the chair. She'd never reckoned that morale might be her forte amongst the Hunters, but now it was evidently clear. Signas smiled more around her, and X laughed more. Axl always asked for story after story, paying rapt attention to every adventure Roll described to him. Even Zero who obviously was still weirded out by close contact with the past - not his favorite topic - seemed to brighten around her. It was as if he didn't have to take things so seriously.

The idea was weird to her. She didn't feel very cheerful these days, and being around the others only made her forget for a short while. That brought her back to her conversation with Bass, and she saddened.

"He must miss Treble a lot. I wish I could rebuild him..."

It was only a vague hope, but it refused to go away. The more Roll thought about it, the more she liked it. But how would she do something like that?

"Hey wait, didn't someone tell me that Treble's personality AI is just Bass' modified?"

With that, the idea got more plausible and Roll got more gleeful.

_Hey,_ she thought. _Maybe Sona-chan hid some files on how to build Treble in Bass' mind! That definitely sounds like something she would do! Well...if she had Bass probably would have built him by now...and that's if the data hasn't been damaged when Bass spent that century underground. Oh, I just don't know! I'll need Alia's help. Maybe something can be done with Bass' memories, or even my memories. Something's got to work!_

Even as she went over all the problems and cost in her mind, Roll could feel her excitement rising. Alia would still be navigating for X, but Roll could hardly wait to tell her.

"I have to be ready!" Roll jumped out of the chair. "I'll just borrow a disc from the lab, and then I'll upload what I know onto it. I just know I can rebuild Treble!"

It was a silly hope, and Roll didn't care. Bass had rebuilt her from what little he knew, and Roll was going to find a way to pull it off herself, no matter how bleak her chances looked.

\\\

Author's notes:

- It's actually kinda strange how similar Zero and Proto Man are. It's like Capcom wanted to expound on the Proto Man character without ruining his mystery. 

- Bah, sorry this chapter took forever. Things will be speeding up for the next bit, I promise. Feels like forever since a few worded chapter worked out. This story is way different from the others, but I think I got it down pat for now.

- Oldstyle robot skin doesn't show color other than general skin tone, but reploid skin is capable of blushing. Just because Roll can't become a reploid doesn't mean she can't have the skin.

- It was never relevant to the story, but I'd just like to point out now that Layer despises Bass. She doesn't like how he irritates Zero.

- Hey you guys, I'm running out of reviewers to make Mavericks out of! As soon as this story is done I won't be doing it any more, so yeah, review! Ain't I so darn manipulative? :D

Aile-chan

=====Metakitt Carnivore

**"I wanna play too!"**

Metakitt Carnivore is a cougar Maverick. She's very violent, and very self-concious about her small size. She likes to play with whatever's available around her, including you. Her size makes her harder to hit, and she spits acid that clings to you unless you shake it off. The player that beats her gets Kitt Spit, an acid shot that breaks weak walls and fires long distances in a slight arc.

This one was extremely hard since Aile is already a Mega Man character. I looked up letter (because in the ZX series the biometals are known by letters), and that somehow got "kite". That's a type of bird, but I have too many bird Mavericks so I made it Kitt. Meta comes from metamorph, a reference to Aile's mergings with the biometals, and Carnivore just made sense.

Solaris

=====Fulgor Flamingo

**"Don't I just dazzle?"**

Fulgor is forever preening his shining feathers. However, underneath his shimmering pink facade, he is one of the most deadly Mavericks around. First of all, his shooting feathers are very quick and hard to dodge, and getting hit by his beak takes major damage. Worst of all, he wields a giant battle axe. If he slams this into the ground, the small level of water on the floor will be electrocuted and you have to get on the wall. Beating him gains you the Fulgor Axe, which shocks the ground around you. If you're under water, you are surrounded with an electrical pulse that damages enemies around you.

"Fulgor" is a new word I found that means splendor or brightness, and it sounds sort of viking to me, hence the Thor references in this Maverick. Flamingo came to mind because it's like "flaming" with an "o". I quite like it.

Proto Chan

=======Amicus Prime

**"Hi there, friend! Can I borrow your buster?"**

Amicus Prime is a Maverick who lives in a junkyard. She's suprisingly friendly and never actually hates anyone. The trouble is, she isn't complete. She's always looking for weapons or armors that she can add to herself to become a normal Maverick. She has a long stick for a left arm, and her right claw is always taking a weapon from the junkyard around her to attack the player. She alternates between a chainsaw, a flamethrower, and a triple shot buster cannon. If you use a power gained from a Maverick against her, she will try to steal it from you, even if it's her weakness. If the player is X, they get the Amicus Cannon (the triple shot), Zero gets the Chainsaw Prime, and Axl gets the flamethrower.

This one was fairly easy. Chan is the friendship suffix in Japan, and Proto means first or previous. So, Amicus Prime. You can tell I came up with this one before I came up with Aile-chan's


	11. Spectral Saturnine and Dr Foster

It was only a couple of minutes after Roll left that Bass returned to Maverick Hunter Headquarters. His little area of sanctitude seemed bitter after he had snapped at her. Part of him was still irritated at her, and another felt bad. He grudgingly figured that he would apologize to her at some point, but for the moment he was far too grumpy to bother. He wanted more than anything else to fight something, but as an official Hunter he had to do what Signas told him. If he asked, Signas would probably let him go explore the world just like he had said before, but with Roll not feeling happy and X about to leave for months, Bass didn't feel that it was right. Not at that point anyway.

_Roll __**better**__ be grateful I don't just leave her by herself. I'm way too nice these days._

As irritated as he was, he gave consideration to the idea. It was futile thinking. He wasn't going to leave her there alone. Well, for the moment, he would. Going back to the research lab to work on the virus was too much for him right then. His fingers almost itched, and he concentrated hard to keep them from turning into busters. There was nothing in the HQ that could be shot other than the targets in the training room, and the thought of working with such weak and predictable non-opponents made Bass sick. He wanted some real action.

So Bass went to the mass-mission navigation room. It was made specifically for the larger operations to be able to handle all the aspects of it. Several reploids were gathered there, each busily going about their tasks as they monitored all the various Hunters that were fighting for the sake of peace in Arcadia. The simple, long hall was flanked on each side by monitoring stations for each fighter. The long room wasn't straight, but in a long loop that circled from the leftmost door (the one Bass had entered), all the way around to the right door that existed in the same wall as the left. At the middle of the loop, or the opposite side of the room as the doors, was the main computer monitor, a huge screen that covered much of the wall. Below that was the departing teleport pad, a large platform meant to send larger numbers out at once over longer distances than normal teleporters.

Alia, Layer and Pallette were at their stations on each side of the larger monitor, with smaller screens of their own that watched over X, Zero, and Axl respectively. Bass found himself instinctively wandering over to Pallette's station, and he quietly sat behind the chirpy navigator to watch. He was at least going to see something happen, if he couldn't participate. Pallette noticed him, but she just winked and waved, too busy to do more than that or care that Bass didn't wave back.

Bass recalled the mission's premise: to eliminate the remaining Mavericks in Arcadia, discover any plans they were making or had made, and keep everything contained without damaging any more of Arcadia. Sultana Aubade's attack on Roll had resulted in chaos for Arcadia. The entire western quarter of the city had to be quarantined and all humans evacuated from it. Another quarantine was set for the entire city so that all reploids could be tested for the Maverick virus. Thankfully the number had proven small, for whatever reason. No one knew how the virus spread, but no one complained about its short reach. The city was returning to life again, but many people, humans and reploids alike, had chosen to leave until the entirety of the Mavericks were dealt with.

Bass knew all about the mission. Signas wanted him in the meeting so that he could find out what Bass had learned about the virus (very little) and learn what he could do to get more resources to help the research. What they needed were Maverick CPUs, so that Bass could figure out where to go from there.

"Okay, Axl," Pallette said to her Hunter through her headset. "I'm going to go into radio silence now. Just go ahead into the Jenner Brands building. That's where the Maverick signals are coming from. X and Zero are covering you. Good luck!"

Forte peered at the screen Pallette was watching. The focal point seemed to be some skinny green reploid with a very bright yellow-blonde ponytail sticking out of the top of his head.

_Ugh, why the hell is Pallette watching this bozo?_

It took Bass a minute to remember Axl's copy shot. He hadn't seen it in action before, not like this.

_Kid needs to find a better-looking Maverick to imitate..._

Axl didn't have a lot of options. The basement of the building had a few other Mavericks in it, though Bass wouldn't have approved of their forms any more than he would Axl's current one. Of the three Mavericks in the room, the most normal looking reploid was one that looked uncannily like a nine year old boy in a teal armor suit. However, the presense of rather emo looking hair was very off-putting. Long blue bangs swept over the Maverick's face, accenting his soft brown eyes. He seemed to be in a bad mood, and he twiddled with the handle of his fencing foil a lot.

The long, glowing neck of a bright pink flamingo lowered itself downwards as the Maverick it belonged to conversed quietly with the boy. Despite its color, no one who saw him would dare call him feminine - not so long as he had a deadly sharp axe held up by the black arms that sprouted under his wings. The horns sticking out of his head further impressed upon Axl that annoying this Maverick wouldn't be such a good idea. Axl recalled his memories from the Maverick Hunter suspects list. The first reploid was Darling Malachite, and the second was Fulgor Flamingo.

The last was clearly the most impressive, and also the oddest. This was Slant Macrocosm, and since electricity had been cut off to the quarantined part of Arcadia, she served as lighting for the room. This Maverick was composed of several different spheres, some like asteroids and others like planets. Two golden comets were arms, but the real light source was her center - the sun of her mini universe. The pulsing orbital objects lifted and separated, forming long legs, and a now definite feminine shape. Star dust formed a glowing body with a beautiful mirage of shimmering hair. This lasted for a moment more before her body parts all crumbled together again into a round universe, orbiting gently around.

This sight was hard to depart from, but Axl couldn't stare at her all day. He admonished himself for being so quickly distracted. There were other Mavericks in the room, and as a Hunter he needed to know what was going on around him at all times. This was a perilous mission, but Axl was not the sort of person to notice ambient danger. He blithely went into situations that would scare the normal reploid, simply not realizing how terrifying the circumstances really were. In fact, he was actually enjoying himself. This was what he liked to do second best: infiltrate. Itching for his first choice, namely shooting them, Axl made himself calm down. He would have plenty of time for that. His mission was to find out as much as he could before things got exciting.

"It's almost time." Fulgor Flamingo said, carefully expecting the edge of his axe. "So this Spectral Saturnine really can teleport past the Maverick Hunter's anti-teleportation field?"

Axl started. None of the Hunters had expected the mysterious Maverick to be here, much less that something this serious was going on. This mission was proving interesting already.

"That's right." Malachite said, beaming with pride as if he had been the one that brought it about. "Spectral has the device built right in-body! It's just a prototype right now but-"

Darling stopped himself, and he glanced at Axl. "Hey Striker, you set up the mechaniloids, right?"

Striker Longshot. That was the name of the Maverick Axl had copied. Trying to appear aloof, he answered, "Yeah, they're going. It'll distract the Hunters long enough to do what we have to do here."

The small reploid seemed a little doubtful. Axl wondered if Mavericks ever just trusted each other.

"Did you see Venom Pterosaur while you were out there?" Darling asked. "She's late and she needs to hurry up."

"No, I didn't. She can find her way down here on her own." Axl scoffed. "I'm not her babysitter."

The boy-roid gave him a long glance before shrugging and turning to Slant Macrocosm. "Hey Slant, you move further over there. We need to give Spectral as much room as we can when she comes. I don't know how stable the new teleporter is."

The sort of girl-roid that was Slant Macrocosm went over to the wall, switching back to her human illusion to have the appearance of walking rather than floating. Once there, she settled back into her planetary form, comfortably humming something to herself as her stardust floated around her.

"Where is that Venom?" Fulgor complained, getting fidgety. "Spectral will be here soon."

"Calm down." Malachite folded his arms, standing with the posture of a 1700s army general. "She's coming. She wouldn't miss Spectral."

As if on cue, a new voice - a nice one, actually - echoed down the empty elevator shaft. "Who'll be here? Did I miss Spectral?"

"Not yet, Venom." Fulgor grumpily shouted back. "You're lucky you didn't or else you'd get it!"

A few clatters and a thunk later, a giant pterodactyl reploid hit the basement floor, her shape becoming more apparent as she stepped into the light cast off by Macrocosm. She was actually a very lovely reploid, despite her large tan wings and a pointed head. Her draw was a bit open, revealing perfectly white and sharpened teeth. She stayed near the open elevator shaft, casually hanging about. She had a glance at her claws, pulling out a nail file and running it along her metal claws.

"Well," she said casually. "I'm here now so relax. Darling said she was coming at the hour, and it's two til. No need to hang around here like lazy people."

"Stop arguing." Darling said. "Just keep yourselves contained until Spectral gets here."

"Once he does, what then?" Axl said. "I mean, aren't we going to attack Maverick Hunter HQ?"

The boy-roid grinned, looking awful cute as he did so. "Heh. First things first. We don't have the teleportation codes for them yet. Hold your horses."

"Come on, don't we have a strategy?" Axl decided to try a little and see how much he could get the Mavericks to talk. "We're not just going to appear there and hope that we shoot something important, are we?"

Fulgor guffawed. "He's an eager one, isn't he?"

"Spectral knows what we'll be doing." Malachite added a chuckle. "Just you wait and see. We'll find a way to figure out what's what with the Hunters!"

"I want to get my claws on that Axl." Venom almost purred. "He's a cute one! Oh, I don't know, which do you think is cuter, Axl or Zero?"

"Oh no, you've got it all wrong." Macrocosm's laughter was like sunshine. "X is the cute one. All of his talk of a peaceful world and doing that right thing is so...charming! What a naiive little sweetheart. I'd love to pull him to bits and see what keeps him so innocent, if he wouldn't make such a precious Maverick, that is. Humph, Zero is stuffy and Axl just a bland soldier with a trigger finger."

"You're crazy. Axl is so much cuter!"

"You're just stuck on hair. Hair is such a shallow topic!"

"I think Roll is cute." Fulgor spoke up, teasing. "Sort of annoying, but very sweet looking. Like our little master here. Fancy a pretty lady, Darling? You'd make quite the match."

Malachite growled and rolled his eyes. "Shut up. If it weren't for her than we'd be in a lot better position by now. Sultana was wrong to just attack her outright."

"Whatever. Anyway, I definitely think Zero is cuter." Venom decided. "Axl is adorable, but at the end of the day it all comes down to brute power."

"Pssht." Macrocosm laughed. "It all comes down to hair, you mean."

Axl gagged. He didn't care what they thought or about winning a competition of Maverick's opinions. He already got enough guff from Pallette and the other Hunter girl-bots about his cuteness, and quite frankly he was already sick of it. He wanted to be taken seriously as a Hunter. Not that this exchange bothered him much - if they didn't take X seriously then he didn't stand a chance. Fortunately for him, the conversation ended.

All at once they silenced, and Axl did too. There was nothing specific that quieted them, or not something they could identify. Automatically the group separated into a circle, and Slant Microcosm even dimmed her light. At some point they became aware of a distinctive glow to the center of the room. It wasn't like an electrical light, but something entirely sinister. It was a glowing mist-like orb devoid of all emotions other than poison. The purple aura expanded outwards slowly, becoming a sphere in the air.

Moments later, a reploid body faded into the air, thin and bony. The glow dissipated, leaving behind a disgusting apparition. This reploid was the skinniest thing ever, with dark, faintly purplish skin, where its tight, grey robes didn't cling. A cloak, tattered and ragged, hung about the skinny shoulders. The robe had ratty sleeves and extended only a little downwards past awkward hips. The only part of it still in good quality was the thick, grey hood, a darker grey than the rest of the garments. That same ghostly, purplish light from before eminated weakly from an orb atop a staff the Maverick clung to. It looked the same shape as the Maverick's skin and bones, but it was clearly some sort of metal. The glowing orb was backed by a ridge like the fin of a violent fish.

The Maverick was still only a moment. It slowly turned to the left and right, getting a look at the reploids surrounding him from under his hood. A thin, bony hand reached up, finally casting back the cloth to reveal his face. Everyone shuddered. Even the obstinately determined Malachite couldn't help but bite his adorable lip, wondering if he should back away slowly.

It was a face of horror. White, needle teeth protruded from a gaping mouth, set in a wide, dead jowl. There was no nose to speak of, only two white eyes, each opaque and seemingly lifeless. This Maverick didn't appear to have any eyelids, or else this reploid just never blinked. Two fin ridges similar to the ridge on the staff were on each side of the head. Finishing off the look was a lone stem extending from between the eyes, and a smaller orb hung on the end. All in all, it was as if a deep sea angler fish had been mutated with a human.

"Darling Malachite." Spectral Saturnine said in a voice that sounded like death by drowning. What made it even worse was that this reploid's mouth didn't move, but the voice emerged from somewhere in the deep cavern that was supposed to be the mouth. "I bring greetings to you and yours."

"Greetings, Saturnine!" Darling tried to sound as solemn as Spectral, but he just couldn't. He was just too darn adorable. "Welcome to our little group."

The angler-roid nodded to him and said no more. After a moment, the Maverick began slowly walking toward "Striker Longshot".

"Know this." the Maverick said. "I am Spectral Saturnine, and the very data of my father Sigma resides within me. I am his daughter, his heiress."

"Wait, that thing's a girl?" Fulgor whispered to Darling. "You'd never know it by looking!"

She was obviously miffed at being interrupted. Slowly she turned her head to the side, casting her opaque sights on the offending reploid. Darling shuffled away, dodging her icy stare. Fulgor bowed his head a bit, reluctant to meet her eyes as he pretended he'd said nothing.

Spectral didn't push the issue. "As I was saying, I am a child of Sigma. I have his aims in mind for the betterment of the reploid race, and there is nothing that can interfere. There is no enemy strong enough to stop me and nothing so sacred that I would not tear it down in the accomplishment of my goals. I want you to know this."

Axl was dumbfounded. But he was supposed to be Striker Longshot, and he had his part to play. "Well, yeah, I think that way too. We've got to start a society for only reploi-"

Spectral was quick, and with one thrusting motion of the staff, everything flashed purple and Axl not only found himself on the floor, he found himself Axl again. His armor was returned completely to normal. Even worse, the Mavericks had him surrounded. Especially Macrocosm, who sent her planets around him so that he couldn't escape without running into any of them. Darling's dazzling fencing foil stuck close to his eyes, and Venom hung back near the elevator shaft, cutting off even that glimmer of hope. That was when Axl realized that their positions had been planned from the beginning. They had been ready to capture him from the first.

"See?" Malachite laughed as a bully would at the trapped Hunter. "I told you we'd find a way to get into your headquarters. You're not a good actor, you know that?"

"Quick, Fulgor, cut off his head." Spectral hissed, releasing again the purple glowing from her staff. "We don't need to bring all of him."

The shining pink flamingo lifted his stone axe to do just that, gleefully obeying. His staff hung in the air for only a moment before plunging straight downwards to Axl's neck. Axl's life flashed before his eyes.

And then something green flashed before his eyes.

It was the Z saber, slashing at the Fulgor Axe and holding it out of reach of the young Hunter. Axl grinned. He didn't have any time to waste.

"Alright!" he exclaimed, rolling out and getting to his feet. "Thanks Zero!"

"No problem at all." The pony-tailed Hunter said as he swung again at his opponent.

"Venom! I thought you were watching the entrance!" Darling screamed in hate.

There was no answer other than angry squawking. Venom Pterosaur had to both dodge X's buster shots and try to drop bombs on him, and that sort of thing doesn't allow for a lot of talking. The full out battle began then. With warriors like X and Zero around, Macrocosm was too busy attacking to hold him down.

Axl's had out his pistol ready to shoot at the planetary Maverick, but a bony staff got in his way. He grinned. So Spectral wanted the fight? He would show her that he was a lot stronger than she expected. His pistol blasts filled the air. The angler-roid, however, was very nimble. She dodged most of them, sending the ones that did fly more precisely towards her away with her staff. Axl knew what to do. He shot upward towards her head, then rolled in closer as she blocked those to get in several free shots.

Spectral took three shots to the chest. Staggering back, she fell to the cold, concrete floor. The skinny thing didn't thrash on the floor like a dying spider for long before she was back on her feet, swinging at Axl with the dark blade. The nimble Maverick recovered quickly, and she began to dash into the deeper parts of the basement. Axl wasn't far behind, and yet somehow in the assortment of pillars and stored boxes, the angler-roid was lost.

X had often accused Axl of not thinking his battles through, and even though Axl argued with himself that letting this Maverick get away was bad, some part of him forced himself to stop and think. He glanced back at the others. From the pink feathers still floating in the air around Zero, Axl figured that he must have beaten Fulgor. Venom too was out of the picture, and X had moved on to doing something about the planetary bodies floating around him. Zero got into a sword fight with Darling Malachite, and Axl couldn't help but be a little impressed with how Darling handled himself for being so short.

That was when it hit him. If the Mavericks were trying to get him so that they could hack into his mind and steal his knowledge of Maverick Hunter Headquarters, then of course Spectral would try to separate him from his friends. He jumped around, immediately readying his pistol, but it was too late. The young Hunter found himself dodging the fastest opponent he ever faced. She swept in closer, knocking a nasty gash into his helmet.

"Weakling!" Spectral mocked. "Least of all Hunters! I hope you are prepared to die!"

"Funny, I was about to say the same thing!" Axl replied, his confidence not at all shattered by his injury.

But as the fight continued, Axl failed to notice that the purple glow emitting from Spectral's lure and the orb of her staff. All of his concentration was in the fighting, and it was some time before he could realize that he was surrounded by a mist. It was interfering with his systems, and he could feel auxiliary programs slowing and shutting down. His limbs were barely moving fast enough to block all the punches from Spectral, and his pistol had disappeared. As everything slowed to a crawl, Axl knew that a new teleportation field was being set up. Like a man drugged he fell to his knees. Making matters worse, a dark knife flicked out from under Spectral's robe and jammed itself into his chestplate, dangerously close to his power core. He wasn't going anywhere.

"Axl!"

The young reploid was so far gone he could hardly tell which of his friends was calling for him. Even then, he didn't despair. With every ounce of his strength he forced his remaining systems to power up, and his core went on overload.

_I've got to get rid of that staff!_

Axl summoned all his clarity to grab the staff, forcefully tugging it away from Spectral as he rolled back and kicked her. The knife still stuck dangerously into his chest, but once he snapped the staff on his leg, his mind instantly de-fogged. Axl spied his pistol on the ground where he must have dropped it, and he snatched it up. Spectral was taking the chance to run off and get lost in the darkness of the storage room.

"Oh no, you don't!" Axl proclaimed. "It's over, Saturnine!"

With this shout, Axl shot out a row of blasts, knocking Spectral off her feet. Before the angler-roid could get back to a standing position, Axl was there, standing in front of her and looking rather smug. A second later his hand shot out, running clean through Spectral's skull. The body of the Maverick slid down, smacking into the cement floor unceremoniously. That was the end for her, and her broken body was even more disgusting than her undamaged one. Axl glanced at his hand. It was holding Saturnine's CPU, completely intact and without so much as a scratch.

"I did it!" Axl exclaimed. "I've got the CPU!"

Everything went dark, and for a moment, Axl worried that the Mavericks had some greater trap waiting for them. He engaged his night vision.

"It's alright!" X called out. "Slant Macrocosm was lighting the room, and she's gone now."

"Good." Zero said. "Malachite was annoying, but I got him. Hey Axl, bring that CPU over here."

Axl obeyed, and the three Maverick Hunters met in the center of the almost pitch-black storage facility. It was handy being machinery. Axl looked at his friends, and both of them seemed relatively undamaged. X had a few scorch marks and Zero's armor was a bit banged up but they were little worse for wear. Both of them, especially X, seemed more worried about Axl.

"That Maverick didn't hurt you too much, did he?" Zero eyed the frightening gash in his friend's chestplate.

"No, she missed." Axl replied cheefully, still playfully staring down the CPU.

"Wait, that was a girl-bot?"

"That's what she said she was. Weird, huh?"

"Where did you learn that move?" X too was staring at the data processor in Axl's hand, squeamish.

"Bass taught me! He called it the Skull Man strike." Axl admired his handiwork with glee. "And no damage to this at all! Man, I wish Bass could see me now!"

Back at the navigation room at Maverick Hunter's, Bass smiled. It was a firm, prideful smile. Watching Axl fight had been a good idea after all. The young Hunter was pretty impressive to Bass.

"Hey, Bass."

It was Pallette. She pulled off her headset and held it in his direction. The dark robot pulled off his helmet, for once revealing his pale blonde and much flattened helmet hair. He set down the helmet ran one hand through his locks before pulling on the headset.

_" - You did a good job, kid. - "_

Axl gasped in surprise. _" - Bass! Wow, all the stuff you taught me really helped! I mean, I thought I was strong before, but this is awesome! - "_

_" - Heh, I've used your type of weapon for years. I'm bound to know a trick or two that you don't. - "_

"Let's not get off focus." X said. "It looks like we've taken out most of the Mavericks here, but we've got to clear out the entire quarantined part of the city."

"I don't think that will take long. I mean, once they had me they were going to try and leave." Axl pointed down at Spectral. "She was going to get everyone out."

"She can break through Maverick Hunter teleportation blockades..." X's mouth formed a firm line. "That means other Mavericks can do the same thing."

"It's just a prototype." Axl said. "Only Spectral here had it. That's what they said, anyway."

"We're going to have to put a stop to this as soon as possible before they build another prototype. Hey wait, we need Bass." X said. _" - Pallette, get him back on the line. - "_

That brightened Bass considerably. He took the headset back from the peppy navigator, smirking. He was finally going to be able to go in and kill something, and X was finally acknowledging his usefulness. Forte wondered what X had in mind.

_" - I'm here. - "_

_" - Okay Bass, - "_ X transmitted. _" - Axl will teleport this CPU back to you. We have to get to wherever Spectral was trying to go, and we can't wait on a normal computer to find the right file. Since you aren't advanced enough to get the virus, the quickest way for us to find out is to have you hack her CPU. Can you do that? - "_

Forte immediately winced. They didn't want him to fight? How was he supposed to hack a Maverick's CPU? Alia had only showed him so much about a reploid's mind, and Dr. Light had only told him about the general concepts. He didn't like this at all.

_" - I'll get it. - " _Bass answered, thinking himself optimistic and a little stupid. _" - Just send it over here. - "_

_" - Alright. Alia, get the blockade down and we'll send it over. As soon as you have it, be ready to set the security measures back up. We don't want to give any Mavericks the chance to escape. - "_

Bass numbly handed the headset back to Pallette as the girls went to work on taking down the blockade. His face settled into a grim scowl while other Hunters rushed around, scrambling to get everything in order. There was much to be done. Besides taking down the anti-teleport field, they had to get scanners set up to track any Mavericks to make sure that they didn't escape. Navigators for other Hunters surrounding the containment area were busily alerting their soldiers what was going on and to be ready for anything. Bass went over to the side of the teleport pad, numb to all the activity and noise about him.

"The anti-teleportation field will be down," Alia announced over both the comm and the navigation room's loudspeaker. "In 3...2...1...now!"

Axl teleported out, and he reappeared under the main viewscreen still holding the CPU. He saw Bass at once, and he handed over the CPU as Douglas and two of his assistants approached.

"We've got him." Alia said, pulling at several controls in her station. "Reactivate the anti-teleportation field."

"You hold still, Axl." Douglas pulled out a power drill as his assistants brought armor to the young Hunter. "You're not out of the fight, but I'm not letting you out of here with that gash in your chestplate and run a diagnostic. We'll be done in just a minute."

So much was going on in the navigation room. Bass had never been a part of an operation this big, and the many navigators were getting information from the Hunter leaders about the status of the Mavericks. None of them had escaped, and they were all proving to be mechaniloids. A Maverick group like that wasn't going to last long. Tension built up in Bass. Were they really expecting someone like him to just hack and have what they needed?

Well, he had said he would do it, so that's what he was going to do. With a wince, he converted his finger into the appropriate size zip drive and plugged in. Being a Maverick brain, the first Bass had ever examined, he expected more from coming in contact with its corrupted data. It was unremarkable. Initially, anyway. Getting his bearings, Bass tried to find specific memories. That was when it proved to be the most confusing thing he had ever seen. Last week Alia warned him that reploids with copy abilities were even more complex than second generations, but to Bass it was the underestimation of the century. Simply finding the right memory module was proving difficult.

Alia looked up from her viewscreen, and she called out to Bass, "Finding anything yet?"

"I'm trying, give me a minute!"

He gritted his teeth. People were depending on him, so he couldn't get bogged down in random data. Navigators around the room were staring at him, and Fortunately the firewall was similar to that on Dire Minuet's computer: it had few defenses against the simplicity of first generation minds. Bass' hacking programs made short work of them, and soon enough, he was grinning. He was getting the hang of the reploid mind. Spectral Saturnine had tried to teleport, so the coordinates of where she intended to go were easy to find - sort of. Hoping he hadn't screwed up, Bass went over to Axl. Douglas was right; the repair on Axl had only taken a bit. He was already drilling in the replacement armor.

"Hey kid, I'm giving you the coordinates, and some other stuff of what you'll find when you get there." Bass reached over Douglas and hooked into Axl's zip drive. "The first one is where Spectral was planning to run away to, and there's two more of where 'she' was for the past couple of hours. I don't want to transmit them."

Axl nodded. "Yeah, you never know who's listening."

"Hey, Dougie, you done yet?" Pallette called out. "We've got to go!"

"Just a second..." Douglas let the drill run for a little longer, then pulled away. "Alright, done!"

"Get ready for another drop in the shield!" Layer called out.

"Good luck, kid." Bass too got off the teleporter pad. "See you when you get back."

"Have fun with that CPU." Axl cheerily replied. "Tell me if you find anything cool on it!"

As the process of taking down the anti-teleportation field and sending Axl back to the fight began, Bass inwardly drooped. Numb, he walked back over to Pallette's station, watching as Axl rejoined X and Zero. Plans of sending teams to the teleport locations were formed without his notice; he didn't bother to pay attention. Bass went ahead and loaded the coordinates into Pallette's computer so that she could begin scanning. From there, Pallette sent the data to the other girls' stations so that they could run scans of their own, among other things. The constant typing and scanning and whatnot was all beyond Bass' knowledge (or concern).

"Y'know," Pallette said with a wink. "Everybody talks about how nice Zero's hair is, but I like yours too. It's kinda cute rumpled like that."

Bass grimaced, grabbing his helmet and abruptly jamming it back on his head. There was a reason he never took it off. Wily's design quirks were not surprising to him. Pallette was just trying to be funny, but Bass was too cross. She scoffed at him teasingly. Forte only sneered.

_I just better get out of here..._ Bass' thoughts were sour. _They've got __**real **__fighter-bots to assist._

And so he left, taking the cloud of darkness along with him. Dodging the technicians and navigators was a task, but eventually Bass got out of the mass-mission navigation room. It took him far longer than he wanted it to take, leaving him even more grouchy. He paced through the halls, staring at the Maverick CPU still in his hand. It disgusted him. He sullenly began his fuming trek away from the noise of the mission workers to quieter parts of the base.

_I need to head back to MY research lab. _Bass let his angry fangs out even though there was no one there to see it. _Because I'm a dang scientist now..._

Bass had always been reluctant to take on the task of curing the Maverick virus ever since Roll brought it up. Now it was only getting worse. He wasn't getting fighter upgrades, he wasn't getting sent on assignments, and now X was giving him a hacking task. He never wanted that. In a world filled with darkness, his one happiness was destroying idiots, and yet that was denied him. Talking to Roll had almost comforted him, but the wound was only growing sore.

He stopped. He didn't want to go to the lab. Part of him wondered why he was pausing. He couldn't do what he wanted, so why complain about it? What else was he going to do?

Bass pounded the side of his fist into the wall. Cursing a second later, he went to inspect the damage. He wanted to get his rage out in peace without having to be yelled at by Signas. Not that Signas ever literally yelled, but to Bass it was all the same. Nagging was nagging, whatever the volume. Fortunately the damage wasn't much. However, his gaze at the wall allowed him to notice a door and the number painted on it. This hallway he had passed through many times, but he had rarely been inside that room. He wasn't intruiged, not really. He knew what was behind it.

For once, he actually felt like opening it.

It was a small lab, not one used too often. There were several small labs like it, most of them designed to work with only one or two forms of technology. Either they were things that the Hunter researchers were developing, or things that they were curious about. This one held something that was painfully familiar. It was a capsule. Bass had seen it before. He could still remember the time Rock first showed him. It was Dr. Light's.

Bass let the door close behind him, and he quietly sat down next to the capsule. It looked mostly the same as when he had first seen it, but there were a few panels here or there added to secure the structure. He recalled everything that Alia had told him about it, how this was supposed to be the main module for Dr. Light's numerous capsules throughout battle sites. How in the world had Dr. Light managed that? Bass didn't know how Dr. Light did anything. The man was a genius, and Bass overwhelmingly began to believe that he himself was not.

"I can't do this..." he said outloud, hoping that somehow he would get an answer.

Silence. Bitter, Bass resisted trying to punch something else. He didn't want to damage anything important, not in here. He slid the CPU on the counter of the lab, in the front area where the computers were. The entire back of the room was filled with the capsule alone, making the already small room feel even more cramped.

Bass didn't like coming to this room. At times he would feel the urge to come, but it was hard for him to be so close to Dr. Light without him really being there. That, and he didn't want to look weird in front of the others. He had told Roll about Dr. Light's fate, but he didn't tell her that he was in the building. It would torture her far worse than him to know that her creator was trapped inside the very thing that kept him alive past his years. And yet, since no one could fix it, the thing just sat there, useless and stupid. Bass could only imagine about how it made X feel; the new bomber never entered the room at all. It was the one point that Bass pitied him for.

The dark robot found himself recalling all he could about the capsule. He only knew of its existence less than a month before Dr. Light died, so he'd had little opportunity to ask the good doctor about it. Mega Man had explained some of the technical details to him, but he too had been afraid to touch it. No one but Dr. Light or Auto had ever worked on its construction. The thing was a big, fat mystery to Bass.

All the same, he found himself pulling at one of the panels on the base of the machine. It had always been loose, as Alia would often look there. She was really the only one that came into the room with any sort of regularity. Most of the researchers were too afraid to touch it. Dr. Light was alive in there, somewhere. One wrong move and that wouldn't be true anymore. Bass, daring himself to just look at the mess of wires and panels that made up the capsule. It was just as confusing as before - this wasn't the first time he had looked.

Sighing, Bass leaned back against the wall. What was the point, now? He wasn't a scientist. He could barely get information out of a reploid's mind, much less fix something created by the world's greatest robotics inventor. What was he supposed to do?

**"It's really all very simple, Bass." Dr. Light told him. "Each piece of a machine has a specific purpose. Figure out each part, and the whole will work."**

It had been a long time since Dr. Light had told him that. He was talking about Crystal Bot. Bass felt himself lucky. Crystal Bot might have been his technician, but if he couldn't figure out how to at least keep her maintained, that was the end of his upgrades. So he always had to talk to Dr. Light about how she worked. Bass wouldn't have even thought to ask, otherwise. Hearing about an X style machine straight from his creator was convenient. Bass was finding out every day how useful that information proved to be.

Out of habit, Bass looked down at the wiring again. Did he see something missing to the left? He got up and snatched a drill from the wall so he could start pulling out the next panel, and things got a little clearer for him. Some of the circuitry inside was mildly alike to a power core problem he'd faced while rebuilding Roll. But Alia had been the one to solve that problem, and Bass wasn't completely sure how she did it. Peering in closer, the idea occured to Bass that there was something, a little something, missing from the capsule. He couldn't figure out what it was, but it was something. Bass stared in closer, hoping that something would actually click in his head and it would all make sense.

And then, it actually did. There was enough power in the capsule to keep it operating in the sense of preserving the human AI (oh, how it was freaky to think of the human brain that way!) but not in the sense of being able to show the holographic imaging. Or so he thought. Mega Man had told him certain things about it, but none of it clearly confirmed or denied his guess. He couldn't figure out how the innards of the machine got so messed up. Was it a design flaw? Mavericks trying to understand it by reverse engineering it? Wearing out over time?

He was stalling. If he was right, then all he needed to do was hook up a power conduit to the proper module. If he was wrong, then hooking it up would short out the machine, destroying the capsule and killing the scientist within permanently. All of the pros and cons hanging about in his head laid out evenly; there was no way to find out one way or another without doing it.

Bass gritted his teeth. This decision was killing him. Sense told him to just wait for Alia and see what she knew. That wasn't a very good option, even if Bass were patient: she knew less than him about it. The only reason Bass had a clue was because this was (if he was right) a simple mechanical problem. Nobody actually knew how this thing functioned. Alia was the leading Hunter scientist as far as old technology went, so if she didn't know asking anyone else was pointless. Asking Roll might have worked, if Bass didn't already know that she was intentionally told very little about it while her creator was alive. Giving security-sensitive knowledge to a housekeeper-bot was too risky, even for the naiive blue bomber.

"Okay...crap...what do I need to do this?"

Bass rubbed his eyes with anxiety. There were only so many replacement parts available, and Bass had to think of something modern that would work. He wasn't even sure of what old tech would work, but he had to have some options. He guessed the TC-315 power conduit. Alia had said that it was the most compatible conduit, but she had been talking about Roll at the time. Did this count for machinery other than robots?

"Eh, if it works on both reploids and Roll then it's got to work here..."

Bass had no reason to say that, and he knew it. He was just guessing, like he was with everything else. So he weighed his options. If he was wrong, then not doing anything would only produce more of the same: Dr. Light trapped with no way to talk to him. Trying but failing meant essentially the same thing, because no one in the world would be able to fix the problem if it wasn't what he thought it was. Again, no way to talk to him. Why not try if that was the outcome either way?

Bass knew that the only difference was reactions. If he accidentally killed Dr. Light, Roll would cry and X would want to kill him. The voice in the back of his head told Bass that X would probably understand at least a little, but Bass ignored it. He was in no mood to listen to rationality.

That left him with only one choice in the end: do it and see what happens. In a rush that passed him by without noticing, he had gathered the tools for the job, as well as run to the supply room for the TC-315 power conduit. His concentration was too strong. He forced himself to pause and focus, taking a simulated breath before he settled with finality to the capsule's bottom half, ready to work. Shutting away his doubts, he very carefully got to work. He inserted the conduit with gentle care, clicking everything into place. There was nothing left but to back away and see if it would run.

A light blinked on the top, indicating that the mechanism recognised the rise in power. Just as it looked like it was working, all the lights cut off with a snap.

"No!" Bass yelled, glaring at the machine's innards and wondering where he went wrong. "No, no, no..."

But there was nothing Bass could think to do. It was too late to save Dr. Light. He knew of the possibility of being wrong, but now that it stared him in the face he lost control. He didn't want to believe it. With a hideous swear, he crumpled, burying his face in his hands. He had screwed everything up...

"Wow...now that felt strange..."

In an instant Bass' head was up. There before them was the ghostly image of Dr. Thomas Light, wavering slightly as the holographic generators synced themselves. Once the hologram noticed who was near, his face lit up, every bit as happy as Bass remembered him to be.

"Bass, is that really you?"

"Yeah." He was so happy that he hardly knew how to respond.

Dr. Light beamed. "I never thought I could see anyone from the past. After the robot apocalypse...oh, never mind that, it's so good to see that you've lived! Things have been so strange for me these past few...however long it's been. Everything suddenly went dark for me and after the longest time I'm finally awake. Goodness, what in the world happened?"

"Eh, you had some sort of power problem. I think I fixed it." Bass said. As he spoke he could feel himself forget all he had been through since Dr. Light's death, and he found his old mannerisms rising within him again. "You know me. I'm so awesome I just had to survive the apocalypse just to come back and fix you, since I'm the greatest robot ever and all."

"And still proud of it, I see." Dr. Light laughed. "How long have you been back?"

"Eh, something over two months. There's lots of Mavericks to kill, and you know I have to get in on that." Bass smirked. "What the hell have you been doing with yourself? I hear some crap that you've been just hiding out in random spots giving X armors. Come on, is that how you're going to spend your retirement years, just popping in and out of existence?"

The good doctor merrily shrugged. "I do what I have to for peace. The trouble with this capsule is, nothing like it has ever been built. That means I have to test it for flaws or inefficiencies without anyone's help or notes. So I can only remain in holographic state for a short time before I have to recharge the silly thing."

"Oh, so it goes on and off to save power."

"Precisely. I feel sorry for X. He gets to see very little of me, though...I feel strange telling him about the past. It depresses him."

Bass rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. He's on a mission now, so he doesn't know you're repaired. Oh hey, how long do you think you can stay aware for now?"

"I've been charging while I've been shut off." Dr. Light said. "I could easily manage several hours."

"Good. There's someone else who really wants to see you." Grinning as he switched over to his comm. _" - Hey Roll, you around? - "_

_" - Yes. About before, I'm really sorry- - "_

Bass rolled his eyes. He'd almost forgotten about it. _" - Shut up about it already and get to research lab 9A. - "_

_" - What's in lab 9A? - "_

_" - You know how you used to take care of Dr. Light a long time ago? Let's just say that I've got a job for you, and I think you're going to like it. Now hurry up. - "_

Bass smirked, impressed with himself. He had figured everything out, and there was no way Roll would leave the Maverick Hunters now. Maybe things weren't going to be so bad after all. He had fixed Dr. Light and kept his promise to Mega Man all at the same time. All he had to do was give Roll all the technical knowledge he had and let her keep Dr. Light active.

_Hell, I really am smart._

Bass glanced over to the door. When Roll came in, the look on her face would be priceless. He didn't want to miss it.

\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- So much technobabble in this chapter! I should write the next Star Trek movie. Man, this chapter took so many rewrites! Peeps, plan out your stories before you write them so that you don't have so many rewrites. Doing things on the fly isn't always the most productive way to go about it. I thought I would get this chapter out right quick for y'all, but not so. Oh well. At least I think I know what I'm doing for the rest of this.

- Remember how I said in the other stories that you could only block teleports either in or out? Well, in the X series they've figured out how to block both at once. They gotta advance somehow, especially with Mavericks on the loose. If Crystal Bot's mini teleporters were around, they wouldn't be able to work.

- While Dr. Light's capsules are neato for gameplay, for plot they are dang annoying. How do they work? Are they recorded messages or living AI? Can he come out of the capsule? Why do the capsules only activate once - does Dr. Light only want to talk to X once per capsule? Bah, I worked it out my own way, but it's still a hurdle for anyone trying to write in the X series, unless they ignore it altogether.

Mavericks!

thomas

======Spike Malkin

**"Get out! You're not welcome here!"**

Spike is a scarecrow Maverick who was once a farmer's assistant. He shoots needles from his arms, as well as just sticking them in himself and kicking or punching you with that spike. He also uses his needles as swords, and can summon crow-bots to shoot lasers down at you. The player that beats him gets the Scare Spike, which allows you to block enemy shots as well as have a short range weapon. It's not as strong as Zero's saber, but for X and Axl it's a great addition.

This one was a little weird, but it all worked out interesting enough. Since Thomas Light is a doctor, I looked that up at thesaurus .com and got "spike" because another meaning for the word doctor means to mess with something. "Tom" can also refer to cats, so after a while of looking around, malkin came up. One of its meanings is scarecrow.

Seventh Shade

======Cudgel Phantasm

**"Have you seen my reading glasses?"**

Phantasm is a wind element Maverick who has the appearance of being a gargoyle with a bull's head. He has two muscular arms that stick out of a black robe and bear a huge hammer, which he can either throw, swing, or ground pound with. He doesn't have legs, and he flies across the room. In his spare time he prefers to read ancient Roman literature. The player that beats him gets the Stone Cudgel, which basically works exactly how Phantasm uses it. So yes, you can ground pound too.

This one was sort of hard. Shade went to Phantasm easy, but I had to get creative for "seventh". In korean, if you use the Sino-Korean numbers, seven is _ch'il_, which sounds a lot like "shill". Shill means a lot of things, but it's also a shortening for "shilleagh" or beating stick. I like the end result. I wanted to take a specific monster, and gargoyles and bulls sound awesome together.

ShadowNeko003

======Shade Crawler Sam

**"Ssssss...the taste of metal flesh..."**

Shade is a snake Maverick that loves stalking prey. He can spit venom and has a very fast bite. Don't let him snatch you up, or major damage will result. He actually stalks you here and there throughout his level, and you can get his damage down some before you have to face him as a Maverick. He's tough, so that's definitely a good thing, especially if you don't have his weakness. The player that beats him gets Venom Vapor, a spray shot that does wide damage to a variety of enemies.

Shadow went to shade easy. Even though _neko _is "cat" in japanese, I was getting tired of feline Mavericks so I made this one a snake, because that's what necks made me think of. _Sam_ is Sino-Korean for three. Yeah, korean has two sets of numbers, because the true Korean set only goes up to 99, and they use Chinese influenced numbers for amounts higher than that. I really like how the name turned out.


	12. The Departure

Zero's eyes opened, and he woke with a groan. He, X and Axl had been working very hard the past week to put in place the new security for Arcadia city, and after a week and a half they all finally, and very reluctantly, gave in to their navigators and went into their restore room for some rest. Zero lay in his restoration pod with a sigh. This sleep period had been anything but restful. Bass was wrong; knowing about the memories didn't stop the nightmares from coming. Even though Wily had been goofy in person, Zero never forgot or underestimated his evil. And as his mind was quieted through the sleep process, the fright factor of his creator only increased. This madman had been the originator of the robot apocalypse, and that was something that would always chill Zero.

Zero had to wonder if there was a way to shut off his mind entirely as he slept, or to make him dream about something specific. For now, he was too emotionally drained to bother. Mornings like these he felt himself good for nothing, and it took a while for him to get his head sorted out. Sighing again, he reached for the controls to open the top of his rest pod. Like all the others, it was a complex, tilted metal bed with a metal cover. There was a little lever on the inside that would allow him to exit from the inside, and he went for it just like usual, just hoping to forget his dreams and move on with his day.

However, as he did, he heard a crumpling sound. It was a piece of paper, and scrawled in thick pencil were only few words. It read:

"I'm sorry about the other day. Roll."

The pony-tailed Hunter blinked, a bit curious. What had Roll done to him? It took him a moment to realize that she was probably talking about the day she braided his hair. It wasn't that big of a deal. Sure, it hurt his ego a little, but in the midst of having his darker origins revealed, it didn't even compare. It was actually silly enough to make him feel better.

Zero crumpled up the note in his hand and opened the cover of his pod, stepping out into the restore room and trying to focus on what he was going to do that day. He was technically off, as he and X would shortly going on an inspection of reploid manufacturers for the next several months, but he figured he would catch up on paperwork and other organizational duties. He let his mind settle in on boring, technical things which happily drowned out his conflicting emotions much the same way a cup of coffee fought against early morning exhaustion in humans.

_Hey wait a minute._ Zero curiously wondered. _The note wasn't there when I shut down. That means Roll opened the pod and put the note there while I was asleep. How does she know how to do that? No one can open pods unless they're a navigator._

His thought process was immediately disrupted by the opening of the restore room doors. In came Bass, holding an electronic data pad. That was not what Zero noticed about him first. For some reason, Bass' helmet was gone, and his hair was...not Bass at all. Someone had braided his short blonde hair into pale cornrows that extended all the way down, a little past the base of his mechanical skull. Making it even worse, these were not straight cornrows, but ones that waved back and forth for every inch of scalp. Zero's mouth crumpled as he tried to force himself not to burst out laughing.

"Hey, Sis, Alia wanted you to have these." Bass gruffly shoved the pad in his direction. "Some files or whatever."

"Um, thanks." the effort not to laugh was even harder as Zero spoke. "Being her little errand boy, I see."

"Shut the hell up. I was on my way down here to get the scans from X so I can cure your stupid virus." Bass noticed the weirdness in Zero's face, but his suspicion lasted only a moment before he went over to X's rest pod. "You're welcome, by the way."

Zero couldn't handle it anymore. He snorted, trying to keep it together, but the laughter would not be denied. He put his hand over his face, only muffling his laugh a little.

"So I see Roll got her hands on you."

"What are you talking about?" Bass glared at him. "Alia's been doing scans on me all morning. I haven't even seen Roll yet today."

"And you didn't notice that you're missing something?" Zero tapped the side of his helmet.

With annoyed confusion, Bass went over to a monitor on the wall, accessing a camera function - the Hunter's nearest equivalent to a mirror. Instantly his snarl burst out like a beast, and he hissed with horror.

"What is this? I look like a dang poser!" Bass turned back to Zero with accusation, furiously narrowing his eyes. "You did this!"

"No, I was in my rest pod the whole time." Zero managed between laughs. "You can look at the computer. Besides, look at these hands. Way too big to make a...nice hairstyle like yours."

As Zero wriggled his fingers to prove his point, Bass' growl indicated that he believed Zero's story, though he wasn't going to let him off easy for laughing at him. Interrupting everything was the hiss of the machinery as another rest pod nearby opened. This was X's, and the bomber emerged from his pod just as he did every day, with a stretch and a prompt systems check. Noticing the others, X approached with some anxiety. It looked like he was going to have to solve a conflict again.

However, as X approached, both Bass and Zero froze in place. X's helmet was also gone. X's black hair normally was just like his older brother's: long-ish and wavy. Today that hair was just the proper length to make a headful of dreadlocks, each easily three inches in length. His hair was so lightweight that the dreads didn't fall down completely, but stuck out in different directions like spikes. Zero could recall seeing the same hairstyle on a surfer once.

X curiously looked back and forth as both of the other robots stared at him. He finally settled on the dark robot. "Gee, Bass, what's wrong with your hair?"

That did it. The Wily-bots practically exploded with merriment, leaving the stunned X to wonder what was going on. He finally got the idea after a moment, and he drifted towards the computer to get a look at what had been done. He just shook his head and facepalmed. This was far too silly for him.

"That's...special...well, at least I have today off..." he shrugged, running one hand through his odd style as he inspected it.

"But I don't! I can't go to work like this!"

This pitiful call came from another open rest pod, Axl's. The poor reploid had suffered a far worse fate than the others. He had more hair to work with than they, and the culprit of the malevolent braiding had used this opportunity to its fullest. Two skinnier braids extended from the front part of his reddish-brown locks, then swung back along his head to join with the rest of his hair in the most elaborate French braid any of the robots in the room had seen. Adding another insult, someone had woven bright pink carnations into the back.

Zero practically howled with laughter, and X had to join in. Poor Axl didn't find it funny at all and struggled to pull it out.

"I think they used those tiny little rubber bands...they never come out!" Axl complained. "Come on guys, somebody help!"

Fortunately for him, this pissed off Bass enough. He hastily went over to Axl and started to undo the complex hair art.

"Hold still, kid." Bass said as he roughly snatched out the flowers and started working on the rubber bands. "Dang, you need to get a haircut."

"I like my hair!" Axl protested. "When it's not like this, anyway."

"I said hold still!"

As Bass attacked the ridiculous braidwork, a beeping light went off at the computer. It was the video communicator. Despite everyone's loud protests, Zero pushed the proper button to let the monitor come to life. He had a feeling he knew who it was. He was wrong. Expecting to see Roll and the navigators (obviously the co-conspirators), it instead was Signas. The commander looked about to speak, but at the appearance of several of his Hunters, his mouth shut abruptly. It took him a minute to say anything, and he cleared his throat in a mood between amusement and annoyance.

"I see." he said lifting one hand to apprehensively rub his eyes. "Please inform your navigators that any pranks that they wish to pull should not be disguised as official Hunter business."

Zero wanted so much to apologize, but his laughter had renewed itself even further. He couldn't speak at all. X shook his head, the only other person amused. He stepped in for Zero and approached the video screen.

"I'm sorry about this. It won't happen again."

"See that it doesn't." Signas let himself indulge in a small grin. "That hairstyle doesn't suit you at all."

"Yeah...I noticed."

The screen cut to black only for a moment before X started to work on the controls to get the navigation office. All four girl-bots were already there waiting, bright and devious grins on their faces.

"Aw, he's pulling it out already." Pallette pouted a little as she laughed. "Axl's so cute with his hair braided."

"No, I'm not!"

Axl's complaint sounded only more adorable, and the girls burst out into fresh laughter. It didn't help that Bass had finished with the main braid and was starting to work on the two smaller ones. The already loosened hair poofed out like a fluffy wig, only further serving to push his comic appearance. The young Hunter wished more than ever he had his helmet on.

"You're getting a haircut, and that's final." Bass hissed.

"We'll cut it for you." Roll teasingly winked, waving around her cute red comb, much to the delight of her conspirators.

"No!" Axl and Bass objected at once, giving fresh fuel for the merry girls' laughter.

"Guys, you really don't need to get Signas involved in any of this." X said. "Don't say it's official business if it isn't."

"We never said that." Layer was mischevious. "We just said that you needed to talk to him, that's all. No harm done."

"Yeah, and your helmets are in here." Alia lifted Axl's. "That way if you needed to leave in a hurry for an emergency, they'd be ready for you."

"I really like Axl's helmet." Roll admired it as she spoke. "If you look at it a certain way when he wears it, it looks like he has kitty ears! _Kawaii!_"

"Cut that out right now." Bass snapped. "My son does _not_ look like a cat!"

That was the absolute worst thing he could say if he really wanted the silliness to end. This time, even Axl had to crack up. Zero laughed so hard he was afraid something would short out.

"Aw, he actually admitted it!" Pallette squealed, clapping her hands. "Axl is his son! That's so wonderful!"

"No...he's not...I didn't...he's just...dang it, you know what I mean!"

Completely embarrassed, Bass immediately let go of Axl's hair, obstinantly backing away and starting on his own unfortunate do. That was fine for Axl, as what was left of his braids was in reach of his own hands.

"Aw, now Bass is pulling his out too." Layer's grin was smug, and she in particular seemed to enjoy his annoyance. "At least we were able to send him through HQ with his hair like that."

"Roll, you're lucky you have diplomatic immunity." Bass growled. "The rest of you better watch it."

Alia shook her head, mischeviously swinging a finger at the video screen. "You can't do that, Bass. See, this is revenge for you guys laughing at Zero the other day, so now things are even again and you don't get to do anything about it."

"I'm really sorry, Zero." Roll nervously said. "I just thought I would try to make it up to you."

"This really does." he said. "It means a lot. I don't think that you needed to go quite this far, but it is hilarious. Apology accepted."

Zero didn't say it, but he had all but forgotten his troubles in the morning's events. He grinned with delight, feeling a lot more happy then he had been since the elder robots had shown up again.

"Hey Roll, I wanted to talk to Dr. Light." X said, approaching the screen. "Can you meet me there and pull these dreads out?"

"That means you're going to have to walk through headquarters." Roll pointed out. "You're okay with that?"

X shrugged, poking at the dreadlocks. "I don't really have a choice. Besides, unlike some people I actually have a sense of humor."

"Shut up, X!" Bass hissed.

-t-

The gentle blue light of the hologram flickered. The vision had always been somewhat haunting to X before, but he was finally able to associate it with a feeling of warmth. He was speaking to Dr. Light without having to deal with Mavericks, and that was indeed a pleasant change. He could hardly believe his luck.

"Hold still." Roll said as she ran her comb through X's hair. He was sitting, but even then Roll had to use a stool to get a good reach of his scalp. "I'm almost finished. You'll actually look pretty nice once I'm done. I really am an expert."

"At least at making us look silly." X laughed. "Doctor, you really should have seen Axl's hair. It would have looked perfect on a fifteen year old girl."

Roll blushed. "I really should just use my powers for good..."

"Well, now that your little prank is over," Dr. Light said. "What else are you going to do with your day? X leaves for his trip to the robot manufacturers tommorrow, doesn't he?"

"Don't remind me." Roll promptly hugged X's neck. "I don't want to think about it!"

X grinned, patting his sister's arm. "Well, Roll's dragging me out to get some flowers for the garden outside. She's can't really do anything inside HQ so they're letting her root around outside. Yeah...fun..."

Roll smacked his arm teasingly before getting back to work on his locks. "Well, if could go out more I'd get this done while you're gone."

"I'm protecting you. That's what I'm supposed to do." X's gave a melodramatic sigh. "Sometimes the price I play is going out to buy daisies."

"Poor X." Dr. Light smiled. "Rock never liked gardening either. Except for bamboo. He was obsessed with it."

"Playing with it, not growing it." Roll winced. "I remember one time when he actually made a little fleet of old fashioned airplanes all entirely out of bamboo."

"That was very clever!" Dr. Light said. "The propellers and wheels all spun, and he decorated it with the bamboo leaves."

"You say that only because you never cleaned the house. There were airplanes everywhere! And bamboo kites, fishing rods, even a minature village with tiny people! Plus the house looked so terrible with all the bamboo growing around it. I just had to clean it up."

"Wow, that's terrible." X snorted. "You must have broken his heart."

"Hey, I let him keep some of them...in his room." Roll said. "And come on, Dr. Light, you know the house looked so much better once I removed all the plants."

"I never really understood how you did it." the good doctor commented. "Bamboo type plants are notoriously difficult to permanently get rid of."

"I'm the best!" Roll winked. "And that means I've got to at least spruce this place up a little bit. Besides, I'm letting you and Zero pick the movie tonight. I don't know why he wanted to spend his last day off for a long time doing paperwork."

"Gee, that's really sad too. I'm sure Zero would have had a lot of fun coming out flower shopping with us." X said with mild sarcasm. "After all, it really is a lot of...fun..."

"Keep it up and I'll make you shop for new carpeting for the inspector's lounge." Roll teased.

"No, anything but carpets!" X pretended to be afraid. "Dr. Light, save me!"

The good doctor laughed at X's joking plea. "You two are true siblings. Seeing the both of you here...I feel so blessed."

Dr. Light smiled, more peaceful than X had ever seen him. At the same time, there was a sadness in his holographic eyes, one he couldn't avoid. It was easy to see that he was remembering interactions between Roll and Rock. They had been very close as brother and sister, and now to see two of his creations still alive, it warmed his heart.

"Here we are, done!" Roll gazed with satisfaction at X's head of hair, now combed out with satisfaction and looking delightfully voluminous. "I think I've really outdone myself this time!"

"Okay." X said, interrupting her little celebration. "So where's my helmet?"

Roll started. "What? Why do you need it? You're only going shopping today. Come on, just let me show off your hair for a little while."

X chortled. He guessed that Roll wanted him to show others that she could brush hair and make it look good rather than goofy. "Roll, I have lots of enemies. I don't want anyone to think that I'm ever off guard, and you'd like it a lot worse if a Maverick took a pot shot at me without my helmet on."

"But you have such nice hair! It gets all flat from being under your helmet all the time."

"Roll, you know why it's more important." X's tone was soft, but relentless all the same. "Now, where is it?"

"I left it back in the navigation room." Roll admitted. "I was sort of hoping you would forget about it for a while."

"Go and get it then. I'll wait for it here."

Huffing a bit, Roll obeyed anyway, going off with an air of slight disappointment. X just shook his head, smiling a little. That was his sister.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to recharge this capsule soon," Dr. Light said, taking a look at his holographic generator. "But for now, X, please stay safe on your travels. I think that for once things are going to turn out better. Between you, Zero, Axl, and I believe that this war with the Mavericks will be over soon. Also, Bass is well on his way to figuring out the Maverick Virus. I think with my help we can actually make progress to defeat it."

X immediately soured at the mention of Bass. He glanced down at the floor, hatefully recalling Bass' misdeeds since his return to activation. He didn't want to spend his last talk with Dr. Light going on about the robot that annoyed him the most, but apparently Dr. Light wasn't going to let this go. As X's eyes returned to the hologram, Dr. Light frowned.

"What is it, X?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

"I don't like leaving Bass here." X admitted. "He's rude, selfish, and he has no ideals. I don't want to come back and find that he's caused a lot of trouble."

The doctor's frown deepened, and his disapproval darkened his face. "Why would you say something like that? Bass has ideals."

"Really?" X scoffed. "He mocks Zero any chance he can get, he can't see anything outside of wars and fighting, and he's teaching Roll to fight like a villain. You can't possibly approve of that."

"Well, I don't like Roll fighting." Dr. Light admitted. "But I know why Bass does it. He wants her to understand that our enemies will take any advantage they can get in a fight, and he doesn't want to leave her defenseless. He feels responsible for her."

"I'm not afraid of something bad happening to her, or not much." X let out a sigh. "I just don't see what you see in Bass. I'm grateful he saved Roll and repaired your capsule, but it feels like he needs to be on a leash if he so much as steps out of the research lab. I can't trust him to behave."

Dr. Light mused over his creation, studiously going over X's reaction. The tall bomber was clearly frustrated, but Dr. Light knew better than to give in to that kind of emotion.

"I saw his good side the very first day I met him." Dr. Light smiled, fatefully remembering. "He had tricked Rock into thinking that he was an ally that needed repair. After I fixed him, Bass destroyed my lab."

"What?" X exclaimed. "You didn't put that in my memory!"

"With good reason, I see. In any case, he destroyed my lab and stole upgrades, but he didn't kill me. He could have done it and left Rock alone, then defeat him once his support was gone. But he never did, and he never kidnapped Roll or cheated his way to a simple victory. That's his ideal."

"So he fights fair." X muttered. "That's it."

"No, that's not it. Bass once came to my hospital room in the attempt to attract Rock's attention for another fight, and he didn't harm me. He spoke with me almost respectfully even though he had no reason to do so. He rebelled against his tyrannous creator, and after that he visited me every day until I was released from the hospital. He listened to what I had to say, and he was with me the day that I died."

X closed his eyes. He couldn't bear the thought of Dr. Light's death, and it hurt him to think of it. He forced himself to push away the imagery and focus on what his creator was saying, as little as he wanted to hear it.

"I think I know why you really don't like him." Dr. Light said gently. "It's for Zero's sake."

"Of course." X answered, slumping back in his seat. "He treats Zero with nothing but contempt. The very first day I met him he tried to kill Zero."

"Can you really blame him? He must have known that Zero was Wily's last creation."

X winced. He didn't like hearing this, especially from the good doctor. He wished so much that Dr. Light didn't know anything about Zero.

"I guess Bass or someone must have told you about it."

"No." Dr. Light was plain about it. "I already knew a long time ago."

"But..." X was stunned. "How could you know?"

"It was simple. Zero found some of my capsules and downloaded the armors I had to give to you, and when he did I was able to scan his body. That was how I created his black armor. I saw his build, and it was very clear that he was Wily's creation. Everything about him fit Albert's technial style. It also didn't help things that he actually asked me if I knew an older man - essentially Albert, though his description wasn't very specific."

The blue bomber leaned forward in his chair, cupping his face in his hands. After a moment, he raised his eyes again and asked, "Why didn't you tell me?"

"You didn't need to know, and you couldn't have wanted to." Dr. Light sympathized. "I didn't want to know myself. I believe the reason you hate Bass so much is that he revealed this to you. It's easy for you to blame him and even hate him for this, and the annoyance you have for Bass has the bonus of making it easier for you to accept Zero's origins. Would you have taken this the same way from me, had I been the one to tell you? You trust me more than you do Bass, so it would have been harder to hear it from me."

"That's so complex..." X said. "But it sounds true."

"Human emotions are very complex. Your design enables you to feel them more clearly." Dr. Light turned his head, saddening. "But it also enables you to feel the true harshness of these wars more deeply. Everything has hurt you to the point where you can't see as much good in life as your brother could. You're not his replacement, X, but you too have to remember all of the good things you fight for."

"I think I can do that now." X felt his smile returning, and it took only a little effort to maintain. "Now that you and Roll are here. Ha, I think I'm ruined for being a Hunter now. Going away for all this time will be really hard. I don't know how I'm going to manage leaving family behind."

"You might find another of my capsules." Dr. Light happily replied. "I had better shut down now, before I strain my machinery too much. Good luck, X."

"See you the next chance I get...Father."

-t-

It was hours later and in fact the darkest hours of the night. The gymnasium was near total black, and the lightless environment belied the violence within. Metal smacked against metal with sharp rings and thuds, and crashes into the floor or wall were not uncommon. Once eyes could become adjusted to darkness, a maddeningly fast pace fight was revealed, showing two dark combatants battling one another for superiority in hand to hand combat. Quicker than the eye could see a punch would strike and a block would defend, and before one could realize what was going on, two more strikes had passed. Masterfully the fighters battled it out not relenting for as much as a millisecond as they attempted to pound the other into submission.

"You're too slow, old man!"

"Call me that again and see what happens!"

Axl swung again, nailing Bass straight in the side of the face. Bass responded with a nasty kick, adding to that two more blows. Axl escaped by jumping and hovering overhead. Bass wasn't going to let him off easy. As soon as the youngster landed, Bass dashed at him, ready to strike. Axl turned and blocked just in time to save his neck, then avenged himself with two punches to the gut.

That wasn't enough to stop Forte. His flying fists gained speed, and he slowly but surely forced Axl to the wall. With a mighty punch, he landed his fist a mere two inches away from Axl's head. Giant cracks spread out from his hand where it impacted, leaving one only to wonder what such a blow would have done if it had actually hit Axl.

"You're pretty good, kid." Bass said, gleefully enjoying his victory. "Definitely getting better. You don't suck too bad without your guns."

Axl's hands flew out with a sharp one-two, and with one hit to the chest Axl had Bass sprawled out on the floor. He grinned, lifting a fist with a clear boast.

"You talk too much, Maverick!"

"Ha!" Bass sat up, not at all upset as he brushed himself off. "Dang, you got me there."

Axl reached out one of his hands to pull Bass back up to his feet, nowhere near done teasing him. "Need some help, Mr. Forte, sir? I think you're getting a little weak in your old age."

"Hell I am." Bass snorted, promptly grabbing Axl at the wrist and tugging him downwards. "Get down here."

He kicked at Axl's feet. The younger robot managed to dodge it somewhat, but with the grip on his hand he still was forced to sit down on the wooden floor. Axl pulled his hand away, swatting merrily at his opponent. Settling, he casually put his arms on his knees.

"So when's this ranking test of yours?" Bass asked.

"Right before I leave for my tour to do those manufacturers' inspections. First I get to do the test to see if I can make it to S rank, then I go through Japan for the next two months. Only then do I actually get to find out my grade."

"Heh, some pressure. I'll probably find out before you get back. Want me to call and tell you how you did?"

"No, I'll wait." Axl shrugged. "X says I need to focus better on my job."

"Screw X. Heh, don't worry about a thing. With my help you'll get S rank easy."

"Who says I need your help?" Axl teased. "I'm a great Hunter all on my own! I don't need training from a lab tech!"

"Don't get cocky, kid." Bass grinned, showing a bit of fang. "I can still kick your tail if I have to."

"Whatever!" Axl hugged his knees a little tighter. "I kinda wish I was going with X and Zero on their tour tomorrow. They're going on all the biggest inspections. I've got some interesting ones on my tour, but they're bound to find illegal copy chip production. I'll get bored if there's no Mavericks to fight!"

"Maybe X was right with all that focusing crap. Life is not about fighting Mavericks. Oh, who am I kidding? Yes it is." The thought of the destruction of idiots was a tantalizing one for Bass, and he inspected his arms with disdain. "Heh, if only my stupid busters worked worth crap."

Axl checked his internal chronometer. "Huh, it's almost time before X and Zero have to get ready and leave. I can't believe they won't be back until November, and I won't see them until a month after that because that's when I come back. I better go say goodbye soon while I have a chance."

"Eh, have fun with that." Bass' tone was bored. "If I'm not here when you get back, I'm in the lab."

That gave Axl pause, and he turned down the sides of his mouth. "Aren't you going to go?"

"No. They aren't my friends."

Bass' bluntness stunned the young Hunter. Axl was always friendly, and it was strange to him that the robot he was based on could be so diffident about the two heroes. He didn't want things to be like that.

"Hey Bass, I've been meaning to talk to you about something." Axl said. "I mean, for all intents and purposes Zero's your brother-"

The dark robot growled slightly. "How many times do I have to tell you? Robots-"

"Yeah, yeah, robots don't have family. I got it already." Axl crossed his legs so that they weren't in his way as he spoke. "But that's all just theory isn't it? I mean, you guys have a lot in common. Same creator, pretty much the same original purposes, you're fighters...heck, you probably could understand Zero better than X could. I bet he can understand you just as well. You just never talk to him unless you have to. I just don't see why you guys can't be friends! You almost seemed like it back when you were searching for his deleted memories."

Bass stared at Axl with dull, glaring eyes. "And here for a second I thought that you were smart."

"Come on, how long are you going to be mad at him for that? You already know he didn't do anything on purpose, and he's doing all he can to make up for the virus. What more do you expect from him?"

"Nothing. He minds his business and I mind mine. Everything works out."

"No, not really." Axl said, wondering how in the world he was going to make his point. "I mean, Zero is really cool. You just never really let yourself get to know him better. When I was first trying to become a Hunter, he was the only one that really gave me a chance."

"You were leaving a renegade faction that set loose a huge mechaniloid just to get you back." Bass scoffed. "Did you really expect any of them to be that happy with you? Makes sense that the guy that caused a lot of damage himself would be more accepting."

"You're mean." Axl chose to be amused at the dark robot's contempt. "I give up."

"I'm too old for a little kid like you to boss me around."

"Yeah, you're not so old you know everything." Axl retorted. "And stop calling me kid. If you don't, I'll call you Dad again."

Bass groaned, laughing as he stood up. "You got enough time for one more round? I want another chance to beat your face in for that."

"Any time, Maverick!"

Axl got back on his feet, only to find that Bass was staring at him strangely, as if suspicious of something. He grabbed the side of Axl's head, forcing it a little downwards as he inspected the Hunter.

Bass swore, snarling. "I hate your creator...they really do look like cat ears."

-t-

The mass-mission navigation room was all aflutter with busy excitement. Several Hunters were going out that day on the inspection tours. Three tours had been planned. two of them long term and one of them shorter, only a couple of months. It was the beginning of May, and the longer tours weren't going to be completed until November, meaning that things were going to be a little understaffed until the next batch of recruits were ready for local missionwork. Maverick Hunters, however, was a very organized police association. No one was worried.

X looked around the room, noticing that a lot of the newer Hunters had been grouped in with the more seasoned veterans. These inspections didn't seem dangerous on the surface, but X knew that at any point the presense of Mavericks could change that quickly. It was a good way to train the C class Hunters. X went over his own group in his mind, searching for each one as they scrambled around the room to gather their armors and mission assignments. His group had the least newcomers, as he and Zero were taking the biggest and potentially the most dangerous robot manufacturing companies, if Mavericks were present. They had to be ready for anything.

Signas strode very confidently through the room as he handed data to the navigators in the room. Despite all the mayhem and haste of the reploids around him, his pace was constantly steady as he calmly traversed the busy chaos. Zero, on the other hand, felt he had to constantly dodge other Hunters on his way to X at Alia's station. He could hardly wait to get there; tripping over armors and the mechaniloids carrying them was not his idea of fun. Part of him began to wish that teleportation was allowed within HQ.

"Thanks, Zero." X said as his friend approached with the appropriate data clipboards. "Just a little more checking and we'll be leaving. Signas expects us to be ready in half an hour."

"Good. It's about time we got this over with." Zero handed the data boards to Alia. "Where's Layer?"

"I'm right here!"

The purple-haired girl-bot approached, carrying Zero's black armor. A little mechaniloid, little more than a basket on wheels, followed her as she approached the others. It bore X's falcon armor, all shiny and cleaned up from its last operation. Alia directed the mechaniloid to her station, then took the armor and hauled it to one of the many little rooms that lined the side walls of the room. These rooms were the armor installation areas, were a Hunter would go to have the prep mechaniloids install their armor. Layer brought her Hunter's armor to the room next to X's, then came out to push the instruction codes in on Alia's console.

"I hope you can handle both of these guys while you're gone, Layer." Alia said as she rejoined the group. "I sort of wish I could go, except I don't know how Signas would run this place without me!"

"It won't be a problem. I'm actually glad to go out with the boys for once." Layer smiled, eyeing Zero in particular. "This mission is going to be fun."

"I'm sure it will." Alia tried her hardest not to smirk and let out Layer's secret. "Come on you guys, get those armors on! You don't have a lot of time!"

"Yes, ma'am." X replied with a little jest, distracted from trying to keep up with his group. "I just need to find Beta. I don't see him out here."

Alia pushed a few buttons on her console. "He's here, just in one of the prep rooms getting his armor on. Come on, let's get going, both of you!"

"Alright, I'm going." X took another glance around the room. "Hey, where's Lambda? I thought I saw him-"

"Let's go, X!" Alia pushed the distracted Hunter along. "We'll assemble before we leave. Stop worrying so much." 

Layer glanced at Zero, a little too shy to go that far. "Well?"

"No need to push." Zero said, lifting his hands in surrender. "I'm going."

With the boys finally getting their armors on, Alia was able to instruct Layer better about navigating for X and other Hunters she didn't normally have to prepare the logistical details for. Of course, the teasing Pallette just had to come and distract them.

"Hey Layer," Axl's navigator leaned over the partition into Alia's station. "Which do you think is cuter? Red Zero or black Zero?"

Layer blushed deeply, a little too startled to answer right away. However, the surprising arrival of more robots caught her attention. She frowned once she noticed that one of them was Bass.

"Red Zero, definitely." she answered. "He looks less arrogant that way."

Pallette snickered. One glance backward and she knew that Layer meant "less like Forte". "Aw, they don't look that similar, besides in color. You don't have a thing to worry about. Hey, Axl, you're not supposed to be in here right now. Signas doesn't want anyone uninvolved in today's mission to be in here."

One of the newcomers was indeed Axl, followed along by Roll and a very reluctant Bass.

"Oh, cut it out, Pallette." Axl complained. "I just wanted to say goodbye before they left. And Roll too! You can't say no to Roll."

"I can't, can't I?" Pallette turned to Roll. "Hey, sweetie?"

"Yeah?"

Pallette winked. "No."

Ignoring Pallette's joke, the three quickly gathered into Alia's workstation to avoid traffic. By this time, X and Zero were ready to emerge. They came out in their new armors, looking rather noble as they reached the others.

"Roll!" X said gladly as he approached her. "I was hoping you'd be here."

He knelt down so that Roll could reach down and hug his neck one last time before the end of the year. She squeezed him as tightly as she could despite the awkwardness of doing that in the wonky design of his armor.

"Wow, um," Roll said as she let go. "That's some...unique armor there, X."

Her brother was stunned, knowing exactly her problem with it. "But Dr. Light designed this armor."

"Yeah," Roll blushed. "He never was that good with artistic things."

"I'll really miss having you around, Zero." Axl said, reaching out to shake Zero's hand. "It's so wrong that they put me on a different tour!"

Zero firmly shook Axl's hand. "There are other companies that need your expertise more. Besides, someone's got to watch out for Headquarters until we get back."

"I'll do my best!" Axl promised. "Hey X, don't get yourself into too much trouble, alright?"

"Said the pot to the kettle." X laughed. "Make sure that you ace that test. I don't want to come home and find out that you're still only an A rank Hunter."

"Isn't anyone going to miss me?" Layer teasingly pouted. "You won't see me for a long time either."

"Of course we'll miss you!" Roll said. "It'll be so weird for all of us girls to not be together!"

"It'll be good, you mean." Axl piped up. "I don't want to wake up and find that my hair is a bouquet of flowers again."

The other continued to laugh and chatter amongst themselves as Bass let himself lean dully against the partition between Pallette's and Alia's stations. He didn't care that much for the goings on, and yet somehow he felt obligated to make an appearance. He guessed that Roll would give him trouble if he didn't. Now that it was time for the final goodbyes, he found himself regretting showing up. These were friends saying goodbye. X irritated Bass, Layer despised him (he couldn't guess why), and Zero...well, was Zero. Forte didn't know any of the other departing Hunters, not well enough to care, anyway.

But something in Axl's words had made an impact. A dull obligation to say something to his "brother" made itself known, and he knew that if he didn't act on it, the little voice in his head would never let him off for it. Zero stood at the edge of the others, not really participating that much in the conversation. He was too business-minded, and Bass could tell that he was eager to be on his way. Grudgingly, Bass lifted himself off the wall and slowly headed for black Zero.

"Hey." Bass said, sort of awkwardly.

Zero turned to him "Yes?"

Now that Bass had started to speak, he realized that he had nothing to say to Zero. If they weren't talking about a mission or the Maverick virus, they would never speak to each other at all. He had to be quick if this wasn't going to be weird.

"Um, I just wanted to say thanks for saving Axl the other day."

It took Zero a second to remember. "Oh. We've saved each other so many times in the past years that I've lost count. It's no big deal."

Zero too found all this strange. Why was Bass talking to him? He had as little to say to Bass as Bass to him. He never expected to have any friendship with Bass. They were only marginally siblings, and it was difficult for Zero to actually sympathize with the dark robot, not when one of his original directives was to destroy him. He didn't exactly like that Bass had spent a long time trying to kill him in the past, either.

The silence was too much, and Bass broke it with the comment, "Eh, you look a little less tacky with your armor like that."

Zero let himself have a grin. "Bass, the fashion director."

It was the wrong comment to make, and Bass wrinkled at it. He sighed.

"Look, what I'm trying to say is, don't, um, die or whatever out there." Bass managed to say. "You're sort of tolerable...you whine a lot less than X."

"Thanks." Zero replied. "You're not the worst robot I've ever met. Barely."

Bass snorted. "You bastard. Get the hell out of here."

Zero guessed that was some sort of joke, but before he could say anything else, Alia was speaking into the comm system, alerting everyone to the imminent departure of group 1. Zero and X were a part of group two, and as soon as the first had gathered and gone, it would be their turn.

"I guess I'll be doing that soon." Zero glanced up at the teleporter platform before returning to Bass. "See you later, you hateful piss-ant."

"If you make it back here alive, Fruitcake."

X beckoned to the nearest members of his group, ending all conversation. "Come on, we don't have a lot of time. Let's not wait on group one to leave before we get group two together."

"That means us." Layer said to Zero. "Want to gather up everyone waiting in the back?"

Zero nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

"Zero, wait!"

It was Roll. Disobeying her brother's urge to get things ready, she realized that she hadn't said goodbye to Zero yet. She ran up to him, waving him downwards. Assuming she had something to say, Zero knelt to get a better listen. Once she had the chance, Roll threw her arms around his neck and gave him a tight hug. Surprised, it took him a moment to return the hug, though he did in the end. 

"Take good care of X!" Roll said, letting go.

"I always do." Zero stood back up, a little stunned but nonetheless happy. "See you later, Roll."

That done, Layer and her crush went to round up the stray members of group two. X had been intending to do the same thing, but he had found Signas, and the two were discussing something that Roll couldn't hear. She desperately wanted him to stay safe; X had assured her that this was simply a series of factory inspections, but she had heard from others about the high likeliness of his running into Mavericks. Roll wanted to trust that he would be safe, but she found that she couldn't. Rock hadn't been safe. No matter how many victories Mega Man had won, they weren't a guarantee that he would survive. It was the same for X.

Quietly distressed, Roll wrung her hands, tightly clasping them as she stared at the floor with trembling. She heard footsteps behind her, distinct from all the noise of the mass-mission room.

"Roll." Bass said quietly. "You alright?"

"Yeah." she sniffed, rubbing an eye.

"Do you want to get out of here?"

"Not yet. I want to see when they leave."

Roll guessed that Bass understood. In any case, he stood beside her silently, and Roll knew he was trying to be supportive. A century ago she never would have guessed that having Bass around would make so much of a difference, but it did. Roll was able to stay with Bass and Axl as group one left and group two was called onto the teleporter pad. A quick check was done for attendance, and of course all of the collection of inspectors were there, ready to get the job done. Alia and the other navigators began to initiate the transport, and the teleporter started going to work. From the platform, X looked over at Roll and waved one last time. One instant later, he was gone.

Roll turned her gaze upwards. A dull pain stuck in her heart, and she desperately wished that she could see more than the beams supporting the roof. But she had to believe. There wasn't any choice. Thus, she did what she hadn't done in a long time. She prayed.

"Please," she whispered. "Bring them home safe!"

\\\\\\\

Author's notes:

- Notedly, reploids don't need much sleep. They do need it from time to time to recharge their power cores, but they can go as much as a month without problems before they need to rest. During sleep mode the Maverick Hunters go through extensive anti-virus checks and software updates. It's really quite efficient as a means of maintenance and getting reploids to be more accepted around humans.

- I've always imagined Zero as an analytical thinker who's all about details and plain science, and X is the one who thinks about complex emotions. Zero ignores his own emotions too much to really understand them. Also, Zero never notices that Layer likes him. Part of it is his subconscious and yet deliberate ignoring of anything romantic, something his mind picked up as a habit when Iris died. A lot of people like to write Zero as someone who takes really good care of his hair, but it seems to me that Zero is always too busy for that. He pays it decent attention, but in the end he cares more about doing his work than messing with it. At quiet moments he brushes it while he's thinking.

So, which do you like better? Red Zero or black Zero?

Wow, I need more reviewers. I'm down to my last three Mavericks. Alright, here we go!

Sony Ninja

=====Wintry Oniwaban

**"I'm waiting for you."**

Wintry is an ice Maverick who particularly loves destroying beautiful things, like flowers or art. He is a ninja Maverick clothed in white with pale purple trim, and he hates warm weather with a passion. His attacks include a shot of ice that causes the player huge knockback, and he can also summon icicles from the ceiling. The player that beats him gets Winter Shot, a freezing blast that solidifies enemies.

I looked up "stony" and "ninja" to get this name. _Oniwaban_ means "one in the garden", a Japanese reference to ninjas.

GTOProject

=====Schemer Torino

**"Witness my new line of automobiles!"**

Schemer is a car Maverick, one who used to work in a car factory. He loves making creative and overly decorative cars. He's a very large Maverick, and by stomping a foot he produces a car that runs out to attack the player. He also has a spark gun. The player that beats him gets Torino Ride, a small car platform that enables the player to get across areas, especially spikes, very quickly. The player can control which direction it goes. It can shoot out sparks from the front of the platform, but these are sort of short range.

A synonym of project is scheme, and GTO made me think of Gran Torinos.

Lady Midnight Sage

=====Raven Vanguard

**"You cannot pass me."**

Raven is a dark Maverick whose expertise is guarding Maverick resources. She's not very talkative, but she is a good fighter. She wears a cloak of black and dark green, and her hair is purple. Her weapon is a short sceptor that she uses to create glowing sparks that fly at you, or beams of light that hurt like crap. The player that beats her gets Vanguard Orb. Press the button once to hold it up and light dark areas then press it again to throw the orb at enemies.

Raven is a synonym for black, in turn a synonym for midnight. Sage means both green and wise person, and somehow vanguard came up from that. I like it.


	13. One More Christmas

Roll wasn't supposed to be outside of Maverick Hunter Headquarters grounds, especially not by herself. X had made that very clear to Bass before he left. Bass didn't even need to be told, and though he had escorted her out to a sewing shop once (she needed more thread), he too would be furious to know that Roll was outside in the warm, early July sun, completely alone. Roll didn't care. She just swung her red purse over her shoulder and kept going, filling her senses with the calm walk to a specialized robotics parts store located a little outside of Arcadia. It was curious to her that such a store would exist outside of town and not in it, but she didn't question it much. Besides, after the taxi drive to the city's outskirts, a nice walk in the sun sounded like a good way to round off the trip.

Roll couldn't remember the last time she'd had a walk in the country. It had been long enough since she had last stepped outside of a Maverick Hunters building, other than to work in the garden (it was coming along nicely). For now, enjoying the wilder parts of nature was the order of the day. Roll lovingly glanced at the woods on the sides of the two lane road, hoping to see some forest animals. She had caught sight of a deer earlier.

The reason she came out that day was to find a special part for her secret project, Treble. Alia, after going over the details from Roll's memory and secret scans of Forte's, had assured her that rebuilding the wolf almost exactly as he had been was completely possible. Crystal had made Bass learn to do repairs on Treble, and even from the simple work Bass did, Alia was able to tell a lot about Treble's inner structure. The only thing was, they would have to order custom parts to complete the dog. This shop on the edge of town had promised them the best of parts, and all they had to do was pick them up, though Alia had been expecting to send someone else. Roll didn't feel like bringing more people in on the secret. After all, the more people knew, the more could possibly find out. A tinge of guilt sprung up with this, but Roll pushed it away. She was doing this as a surprise for Bass, and she refused to risk him finding out.

It was wonderful to be in the fresh air. Roll let herself relax as she walked on, and she thought about all the things she would have to do to get Treble ready. It wasn't much, not compared to what Alia had to do. Learning about keeping Dr. Light's capsule maintained had taught Roll a thing or two about machines, but Alia was still the expert. Roll was just content with getting parts for the wolf. The scientist in pink had given a clear estimate of how long each aspect of the construction would take, and Roll did the math in her head, adding a couple of weeks just in case there was an unexpected delay.

_It's going to take several months, so...huh, it'll be done right around Christmas time!_

It was difficult to think of Christmas at that time of the year, with everything so warm and sunny. The girl-bot smiled to herself, thinking more about it. After all, there were other people who she needed to shop for. She giggled with glee; gift shopping was her absolute favorite kind, and since most reploids didn't celebrate birthdays, she was going to have to take the opportunity where she could.

_Let's see...you know, I bet Axl would just love a guitar! I wonder if he likes music. _Roll found herself merrily skipping. There was no one watching, so she could be childish for once. _He and Zero are always listening to electro rock. Ah, now Zero's the easy one. I'll get him a nice Japanese paint set. He's always talking about Japanese culture. I'd get him a nice kimono if I knew he would wear it, but when does he have the chance?_

Roll twisted her hair, getting a little tense. As much as she loved her brother, she couldn't for the life of her figure out what he would want as a gift. She had seen him do little besides deal with work and fighting and papers and government regulations. It all bored her to death, and she didn't believe that X enjoyed it any more than she did.

_What does he do for fun? Oh yes, I know! That one night he wanted to go to a karaoke bar with everyone, but we didn't get to go...I could get him a karaoke machine! I know he loves to sing!_

Just for a moment, Roll stopped. It all hit her at once what she was doing: she was coping. The face of the world had changed so much, and yet she was here, surviving it and doing okay. There was a lot that had changed for the worse: the world was rocked with war, Roll's family was smaller, she could barely leave Maverick Hunter Headquarters (especially if she didn't try to sneak out), and there was a lot of pain that her friends had to deal with, Bass and Zero in particular. Even Roll found herself ignoring her past more than she liked. She couldn't look at it, not without knowing how exactly to deal with it. Having spent ten years as the last, lone robot guardian of a crippled earth had scarred her more than she liked to say.

Those times were dark and depressing as humanity struggled to survive the robot apocalypse. Food fell short from the lack of farmer mechaniloids, most governments were crippled, the United Nations was pretty much nonexistent, and everyone had to work hard for what they had. Only mechaniloids had survived it, and not too many of those. It hurt when Roll had to destroy even these at times with humans with bent morality tried to use the remaining robots to their advantage. Roll guessed that it was worse than full out war in at least one sense: there wasn't so much fight as general struggle against despair.

_I guess things are better now. Sort of. Well, they will be once the Maverick virus is cured._

Roll looked around, noticing a change of surroundings as she walked on. The trees pulled back, and instead of woods there were fresh farms of wheat and corn growing on the different sides of the road. It was beautiful, but too late. The damage had been done: Roll was thinking about Mavericks. Bass, for the sake of completion, had warned her about open areas in case of a Maverick attack. Open areas were to be avoided at all costs if she were to hide and escape from them. The housekeeper-bot began to regret not telling Alia or Bass where she had gone, and she was left to hope that her training was good enough to protect herself from a random attack until help could come.

_What am I thinking? _Roll made herself laugh, though it wasn't very convincing. _None of the Mavericks know that I'm here. There's nothing worth attacking in these parts either. I shouldn't be so afraid._

"Yes, it's quite safe." a voice said behind her. "I'm keeping the Mavericks away."

Roll instantly turned around, startled at once and clutching her purse tightly. Instead of seeing some sort of terrifying reploid, there was only a young human girl. Roll guessed that she must have been about twenty, and she had long, shaggy, dark blonde hair. A pair of glasses, tinted in the bright light of the sun, were set atop a rather large and befreckled nose which the girl casually scratched. Everything about her was ordinary. Even her clothes, a bright pink shirt with jeans, was outright unremarkable. Somehow, despite the ordinariness of the young woman, she was still frightening. There was something Roll couldn't place about her that just didn't seem right.

"Who are you?" Roll said, taking a couple of steps back. "How did you know what I was thinking?"

"My name is GrimMoody." the girl replied. "And I wasn't reading your thoughts. I was writing them."

"GrimMoody?" Roll nervously repeated. "That's not a real name."

"No, it's not, but for reasons I can't explain to you here I can't tell you my real name."

The girl stepped closer to Roll, who had to a put a lot of effort into not running away. As much as she was curious, Roll was still afraid. However, her curiosity was piqued just enough to get her to ask at least one question.

"What do you mean, writing my thoughts?" Roll was glad to see that GrimMoody stopped with a sufficient gap of empty road between them.

"Yes. I've been writing everything for a long time now." the human said. "I have shaped the past and made it fit into the future, and I have been writing this latest episode of the Maverick War."

Roll was lost for speech, only barely able to mutter out the words, "Are you...God? Er...Goddess?"

GrimMoody let out a very goofy laugh. "Oh crap no. Not in the least. I'm a perfectly ordinary human, in every single way. Well, except I'm a little extra nerdy, that's all. Thing is, the only reason I have any powers here at all is because the gap between myself and what you would know as an ordinary human is similarly wide as the one between myself and the real God, though I suspect that gap is even larger than I know. The humans you know are not human, they are sub-human. Quite a bit sub-human actually. Without people such as myself, they would simply not exist."

That didn't make any sense, and Roll found herself confused. The humans she knew seemed normal, though this girl certainly wasn't. Roll tried another guess.

"So you're...a demi-god?"

"Will you get off the whole god thing?" GrimMoody was calm despite Roll's confusion, and she only smiled with amusement at the young robot - Roll found herself thinking that she was young again. "Look at it like a horizontal line, and that line's name is human. Imagine I'm a dot on that line, and there's a bunch of dots way far below it. Those are all the other humans you've ever met."

"Even Dr. Light?"

"Yes, even him. Now, far above that line is God. You see? I'm quite normal. I am the reality of what you think a normal human is. I just look really different to someone below that line."

"Okay." Roll thought she understood, but she wasn't willing to confirm that idea. "Well...why are you here?"

"Because I am the author of everything that has been happening to you recently. I've been writing your story for the longest time, or so it seems to you. It's only been about a year and a half for me."

"I don't believe you..." Roll shook her head, starting to really get creeped out by Grimm. "That's not possible."

"Really? And it's not possible for me to know that you were thinking about being attacked by Mavericks before I approached?"

Roll didn't answer. She didn't want to answer. She just nervously shifted her weight on her feet, clutching more tightly to her purse.

"So...what do you want with me?"

GrimMoody stood taller, an aura of cold around her. "Roll, do you want to know the future?"

Roll jumped back as if GrimMoody had tried to hit her. As amused as GrimMoody had been for the beginning of their conversation, here her voice lost all its cheer. She was no longer joking. The seriousness in her gaze tempered Roll's interest in the future, but all the same, this was something she had never seen before. Why not find out what exactly was going on? Despite feeling like she should know better, Roll answered.

"...Yes..."

"You don't sound very sure."

Roll wasn't sure how to answer that. She just nervously bit her lip, bracing herself as she firmly nodded. "I guess...I guess if you're lying to me about the future I just won't believe you."

"Okay then, I'll tell you. Anything specific you want to know?"

Roll nodded. "I want to know if X and Zero make it back home safely."

"Sure they do. The mission isn't as bad as it might seem at first. They succeed in holding robot manufacturers to greater standards, holding them accountable for making illegal copy chips. Most of these chips don't contain Sigma's data anyway, so having one doesn't automatically guarantee that they are corrupted. In a few years the science will be perfected, and limited copy chip production will begin in trusted companies. Things will begin to get easier for the Maverick Hunters after that."

"That's good." Roll felt relief welling up inside of her, and she exhaled to release the tension she didn't notice was there. She inwardly admonished herself for believing the stranger so quickly, but all the same, she wanted to hear more. She could at least pretend that the things GrimMoody said were real, for the sake of entertainment. "So the war will end?"

"Not for a few years yet, but yes it will." GrimMoody affirmed. "Hey, why don't I show you something a little more specific? This upcoming Christmas, perhaps."

"Oh yes!" Roll exclaimed. "I want to see if Treble turns out right for Bass."

"I'll start right at the beginning. Here, give me a second."

Grimm closed her eyes, reaching out her hands with her palms upwards, fingers splayed out. At first, Roll thought she saw two little spinning orbs in the author's hands, each spinning and twirling so fast that she couldn't quite make out what they were supposed to be. But as her eyes finally settled, she let herself believe what her subconscious was trying to tell her all along. Those orbs weren't made of anything, they were the surroundings themselves. Almost as quickly as she realized this, the entire world began to swirl away. It spun around her, and Roll gasped, trying to reach out for something to hold on to. But there was nothing, nothing but the green of distant trees, the luscious brown of the nearby wheat, and the black and yellow of the road below spinning out of control. Road became sky and sky became tree until the scene - like a whirlpool - spun so fast that she could hardly tell what was what anymore.

In what seemed like an eternity, the colors switched. The bright freshness of the outdoor day became the dark but not unwelcome environ of a place Roll realized was indeed inside Maverick Hunter HQ. It was one of their lower rooms, a lounge not often used for anything other than storage. Roll could recall that the building the Maverick Hunters used had been a repurposed building from something human, possibly a hotel. That explained why the room was large and spacious. Or it was spacious now. The room had been filled from bottom to top with boxes and crates the last time Roll had seen it, but now it was mostly empty now, only a few plastic bins in the way of the victory against clutter. The dirty brown blinds were still up, and the carpet was in desperate need of a vaccuum, but it was starting to look right nice.

"What does this have to do with Christmas? Oh!"

Roll was entirely caught off guard, gasping as someone clad in red passed her by.

"Oh, excuse me-" Roll began to call out.

She cut herself short. The stranger lifted one of the remaining bins, turning around in time to give Roll the shock of her life. This was someone very familiar to her. The most familiar person in the world.

It was Roll.

It had to be her. She was dressed in a cute Santa dress, complete with hat and a sprig of holly, but otherwise was perfectly identical. This new housekeeper-bot didn't notice that the original had spoken at all. She just merrily hauled the box past as if the first Roll wasn't there, giving it to a carrier mechaniloid. With a clap of her hands, cheery Santa Roll brought several more mechaniloids close.

"Hurry, you guys! X will be here any minute!" She winked at them. "Let's get to cleaning! Hide X's present on the far wall, then set up the curtain!"

Several of the mechaniloids, little flat ones that were little more than mechanized skateboards with long arms, hauled machinery and speakers to the far wall as they were told, letting the vaccuum-bots have a quick run ahead of them first. Little spider mechaniloids clambered up the walls, neatly and delicately spreading a red paint on the walls. More of them painted white trim, and others started cleaning the windows as fast as they could. Another three carrier-loids came in, each bearing big boxes that were overstuffed with various Christmas whatnots; wrapping paper, lights and ribbons hung out of them inordinately. These robots headed straight for Roll, and her ever widening smile grew only bigger at the sight of them.

"Thank you!" she exclaimed. "Go ahead and leave those here. Start bringing in the presents and leave them on the other side of the windows so that X will have room to set up the tree."

They obeyed, leaving their previous cargo in the middle of the room for Roll to sort out on her own. She dug in delightfully, being sure to first bring out the tree stand and leave it near the center of the grand window as a lovely display to the courtyard outside. She checked the walls, and sure enough, the spider-loids were done painting and had gone on to fanning the paint dry.

"Good, you can hang the wall decorations in ten minutes."

Santa Roll went to work organizing out the lights and streamers, pulling out a delicate, beautiful angel and carefully setting it where none of the mechaniloids would bump into it. It was a good thing that the mechaniloids in the back had finished hanging up the curtain, because in strode X, engulfed in evergreen.

"You have the tree!" Roll squealed. "I put the stand near the window for you!"

"Oof." X hauled the huge thing over, trying his best to peek out through the prickly branches and get the stump in correctly. With a little awkward positioning, he soon had the tree into place.

"There, that's done!" X attempted to brush the nettles and sap off his hands as he spoke. "So why exactly did you wait until the wee hours of the morning to do this?"

"It's the right thing for Santa to do!" Roll winked. "Come in, give presents, and sneak away!"

"I don't think we've ever really done that much for Christmas." X mentioned, staring down at all the decorations Roll had prepared. "It's not like crime goes away just because it's December 25. We're always busy doing different things. Zero and I exchange presents, and our navigators too, but that's about it."

"Well, all that's going to change, now that I'm here!" Roll announced, tugging on X's arm and pulling him over to the decorations. "Come on. You and me are going to get the tree. We'll let the mechaniloids finish up the walls."

Roll watched as Santa Roll, evidently her future self, put ornaments and lights on the tree with X. They looked so happy. Past Roll could only think about all the times she and Rock had decorated the tree, and this left her torn between the sadness of loss and the joy of the scene before her. It was so cute! As the final touch for the tree, X picked Roll up and let her stand on his shoulder to set the angel perfectly on the top.

"Hm, what's this?"

Zero entered the room, dodging several mechaniloids as they hauled the presents, decoratively placing them under the tree. He had to make sure and step aside from the double doors as the largest present of all, one decked out in purple and silver wrapping paper, made its way to the tree. X gently put his sister back on the ground.

"Do you like it?" asked X. "Roll here got everything ready."

The pony-tailed Hunter nodded, liking it very much. Past Roll could tell that he liked it more than he showed. There was a certain liveliness to his eyes that only rarely was exposed to anyone outside his head. He took a quick look under the tree, seeing what presents had appeared there.

"Ah, good, you got mine." Zero noted. "I was late wrapping them."

Mechaniloids came in with furniture as he spoke, large plush couches to spread around the tree. Behind them came Layer, holding a very lovely box wrapped with all manner of ecclectic ribbon. It was obviously done with care. Also with care Layer had spruced up her look. Instead of being down, Layer's hair was in a nice braid, and she even wore a little Santa hat.

"Merry Christmas, everyone." Layer smiled, putting her gift with the others. "Alia and Pallette are on duty today, but I'll be here for the navigators. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all." X said, going to sit down in a red chair one of the mechaniloids had left. "I wish Pallette was here, though. She would love something like this."

"Well, we can leave the room up like this for a while. Signas was letting me organize it, and he basically gave this room to me for Christmas." Roll giggled, touching the side of her head for a moment. "I better contact Bass and make sure he gets down here. I don't want him to miss it!"

"Eh, I'm here already." a voice mumbled from the door.

Bass dragged down the jolly mood of the others. Instead of being bright, he was somewhat solemn. His eyes hung with the weight of depression, and the lights and colors only seemed to make it worse. He sighed quietly and turned his gaze down to the carpet, as if the sight of it exhausted him.

"So I see Roll has invaded." He tried to at least appreciate it for her sake, though that was proving to be an effort, and he found himself just not wanting to look at it. "Eh...it's nice. I'm not really in the mood for something like this. I've got to get back to work."

The Roll watching the vision was confused. She glanced around the room. "Hey, GrimMoody? Are you still here?"

"Yep." Roll almost jumped out of her metaloid skin as the author reappeared next to her. "'Sup?"

"Why is Bass so sad?"

"Him?" GrimMoody looked in his direction. "Christmas stuff just reminds him too much of the past. He got that from Wily - never really being able to enjoy it."

"If you're leaving," Zero said, interrupting the unseen presences. "Does that mean I get your present?"

Zero pointed to the large gift in purple and silver, and Bass gasped. It was huge, in fact almost as big as he was (and indeed almost as big as his eyes when he saw it). Without a word, he sat down in the red chair closest to the door, settling down comfortably, not taking his eyes off the gift.

"Oh, is Signas coming?" Roll asked X. "I have a present for him too!"

"I doubt it." X said. "He's almost always working. He'll be here later today, so I don't think you have to worry about when to give him your present."

"Sorry I'm late! I just got off duty!" Axl came in, stunned by all he saw. "Wow, this looks great!"

"Thank you!" Roll curtsied.

"I think we'd better get started." Zero went over to the sofa and sat down. "If Bass' eyes get any bigger, he's going to break something."

Everyone laughed as Bass glared at his brother. The glare didn't last long, and his eyes popped right back over to the present. Layer went over to the sofa and sat down, happily realizing that since Roll was going to be the one giving out presents, there was nothing in the way of her getting to sit beside Zero. She let Axl have the other side of the sofa.

"Alright Bass, go ahead." Roll tried to bite back her grin.

Trying (and failing) to disguise his excitement, Bass went over to the huge package and started to rip at the paper.

"Now!" Roll shouted.

Instantly the cardboard practically exploded, sending wrapping paper and ribbon flying in all directions. Bass found himself knocked flat on the floor, trapped under claws and deafened by barking. Barking?

"Treble!"

The giant wolf swung his tail back and forth. No sooner than he had let his master up, and Bass had flung his arms around the happy dog's neck.

"That's from me and Alia." Santa Roll said, clapping her hands in delight. "We made him from my memories and secret scans of your personality AI. We were going to give him your memories, but we decided that that was too personal for us to do. You can add your memories to him if you want. This guy should be exactly the same as before, except we programmed him not to chew on Zero's hair."

"Er, thanks for that." Zero had to wonder if she did it for his sake or for his hair's. "Bass? You're not crying, are you?"

It was hard to tell. The dark robot's head was hidden by Treble's as he hugged the dog, though he seemed to be shaking at the same time.

"No..." he said, trying (and failing) to sound like he wasn't.

"Awww..." Christmas Roll fought back how touched she was, but the one observing just had to let it out.

"Alright, next present!" Santa Roll announced, picking up the gift Layer brought in to distract everyone. She knew how easily embarrassed Bass could be. "Okay, this one's to Zero, from Layer."

Zero glanced in her direction, and Layer tried not to blush. Accepting the present from Roll, Zero carefully took off the wrapping paper and opened the box. He pulled out a little boat on a stand, looking ancient and very Asian.

"That's a Japanese warship." Layer explained. "It's made from the actual wreckage of one of the last warships the Japanese used. You wouldn't believe how much trouble I had to go through to get it. This guy on the Interface auction kept trying to outbid me, but I just had to get it for you!"

"Actually, I would believe something like that." Zero chortled as he examined the ship. "The other bidder was me. So you're VioletCommander3000 online? Oh well, nice to see I didn't lose it. Thank you, Layer."

The navigator did blush then, from embarrassment. Fortunately for her, Roll distracted everyone with her next pull of presents, one for Axl, and the other for X. X patiently unwrapped his, but Axl tore into his much like Treble out of his box. Layer had to pluck several discarded wrapper bits from her hair.

"Alright, guns!" Axl exclaimed, pulling two large handguns out of the poor, innocent wreck that was once a cardboard box. "These are so cool! Who got me these?"

Axl looked down at the paper around him, dismayed to find out that he had already torn up the tag. Fortunately Bass, still sitting on the floor with Treble, answered him.

"That's from me. I wanted to make you some armor, but yours is weird from having to do all that copy crap. I can't make anything like that. Sorry."

Axl's delight in testing the balance of his new weapons completely wiped out any notice of the apology. "Awesome! Oh hey, Roll, grab Bass' present from me. It's the long blue one."

In the meantime, X was done with his, and he hadn't ripped up the tag. "Okay, so this one's from Zero - Wow! It's Super Mario Plumber's Paradise 7! Yes! I know what I'm doing the rest of today!"

Zero grinned. Video games were the one thing that made the normally balanced X turn into a crazed eight year old on a major sugar buzz. It was funny to watch.

"What the hell?"

Bass' present was a large rifle, skinny, but ridiculously heavy for its size. It was a laser cannon, and Bass lifted it uncertainly to test its balance. His tiny grin grew a little, and Treble wagged his tail in approval.

"You're always talking about how you want to upgrade your busters and how tricky it is." said Axl. "I figure you're going to want to be able to shoot people in the meantime. You'll at least be able to get your rank up. Oh, and that's a really stable weapon, so if you've got a guy in your face, you can use it to smack him."

"That sounds pretty awesome. Thanks." Bass brought it up to his shoulder, making sure to aim away from the others. "This is going to take some getting used to..."

"Can we not get each other weapons?" Roll pouted. "There's more to life than fighting."

Axl jokingly scoffed. "You're kidding, right?"

"Girl-bots are nuts." Bass added, and Treble barked in agreement.

"Boys!" Roll humphed. "Alright, let's get a present for Layer. This one's from me. Oh, and X, this one's for you."

Layer took the package and unwrapped it curiously, pulling back tissue paper to reveal the gift. It was a fancy gown, a slender one that was from straps to hem glittery and shimmery. It automatically brought to mind movie stars and award shows.

"I...don't really wear dresses." Layer said with uncertainty, examining the thing.

"Exactly!" Roll was quick to explain. "All girls need to have something fancy just in case! You need to have fun once in a while too! Oh, X, aren't you going to open yours?"

X's present was a fairly large box that Roll had sent a mechaniloid to bring him, but it was just sitting at his feet unopened. X was staring at it, particularly at the tag. He winced as Roll mentioned this, but he couldn't bring himself to do more than let the thing sit there.

"It's from Bass..." he explained as he glared down the room.

"And Alia too. She did most of the work." Bass said, pretending to be casual as he got to his feet. "Oh, that reminds me, I'll be right back. I left Roll's present upstairs, and I have to go get it. Back in a sec."

"What, you're going right as I'm about to open the present from you?" X pushed the package away from himself with his feet. "What exactly is in there?"

"Open it and find out." Forte smirked. "You can thank me when I come back. Come on, Treble, let's go."

"Don't you go anywhere!" X said. "If this is some sort of prank then you're going to have to face it too."

Bass rolled his eyes. "Relax, will you? It's not a bomb."

"I don't believe you, so you can wait a minute."

Bass didn't seem willing to push the matter, but he made sure to grin his widest and let X's imagination run wild. Against his better judgement, X started to pull off the ribbon and peel back the wrapping paper. Once the box was open, X blinked in surprise.

"What's this?" he poked around the box. "Armor?"

"It was Alia's idea." Bass shrugged. "She wanted to build you a defensive armor, so she pestered me until I coughed up some SC12. It's also got built-in spike protection."

"That's...awesome!" X picked up the armor and started looking at the design, wondering how it would look on him. "Thanks."

"Eh, thank Alia." Bass muttered. "I just did it so I wouldn't have to think about what to get you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get Roll's present now."

Treble followed Bass out of the room, and X watched them go with disdain.

"What a jerk." Layer huffed. "I can't believe he acts like that on Christmas!"

"Don't be too hard on him." Zero mentioned. "It could have been a bomb. I wouldn't put it past him...well, if Roll weren't around."

"Don't open your present then." X said.

"I wasn't planning on it."

"Aw, come on, Bass was being nice for once." Axl complained. "Now come on, whose gift is next?"

"Yours!" Roll winked. "Let's see, this one is from X and Zero."

Little Miss Santa handed a small box to Axl, who smiled at X before digging in. Layer shielded herself from the flying wrapping paper with the top half of the box her dress had come in as Axl shredded the innocent wrappings. Inside was a book, thicker than the width of Axl's hand.

"What? The Geo-Political History of 13th Century Europe?" Axl stared at the thing as if it were alien. "Um...thanks...guys..."

"What, you don't like history?" Zero smiled. "It's really educational."

"Yeah, you need to learn about the past to understand the future." X's mouth was also upturned, and he wanted to laugh. "Why don't you look through it? You might find it more interesting than you expect."

Axl glanced back and forth from one friend to the other with doubt and a pouting lip, but he flipped through the book nonetheless. The book opened to one specific page, revealing a picture that stuck out from the pages. Axl pulled it out to take a look, and his doubt disappeared.

"Holy crap, this is really mine?" Axl exclaimed. "Wow, it's my own motorcycle! That's so cool!"

"You did mention you wanted one." X tossed the keys to the young Hunter, who caught them with extra enthusiam than normal. "We figured that it was about time."

Treble entered the room again, going over to Roll. He merrily barked at Roll, wagging his tail violently. Bass followed his dog in, not far behind. His arms were full with a large present. Instead of wrapping paper, it was simply red cardboard with small holes in it and a green bow on top. Roll got the feeling that she knew what it was as Bass sat it down at the side of the tree.

"Hey Bass, look at what X and Zero got me!" Axl held out the photo to Bass. "Isn't it awesome?"

"Yeah, not bad. Don't hurt yourself wrecking that thing."

"Hey! I'll be careful! I'm not a little kid!"

Bass grinned. Messing with Axl was too easy. "Alright, Roll, open it. It's past your turn anyway."

Roll was already poking at the cardboard, giggling incessantly. The box only covered the top of whatever it was, so Roll just pulled the cardboard shell away to reveal her gift. She squealed with glee.

"Aw, it's guinea pigs!"

And so it was. Two little mammals were sniffing about in a bed of wood shavings, looking up with curious black eyes at their new and now much lighter surroundings. One of them was a jet black pig with a white stripe running across one eye, and an unruly tuft of his fur stuck up rebelliously between his velvety ears. The other was white, light brown, and deep orange, speckled all over with color. One of the orange patches on his side was in the shape of a heart.

"Let me see!" Layer went up closer to look. "Aww! So cute!"

"Eh, I know you like taking care of organics for some reason." Bass said to Roll with a shrug. "I don't know...do you like them?"

"Yes! Thank you so much!" Roll squealed, clapping her hands. "And I know just what to name them! The black one will be Mungo, and the other will be Jerry!"

"NO." Bass was quick to protest. "Absolutely not. Name them something different!"

Roll stuck out her tongue at him. "They're mine and I'll name them what I want. I think Crystal Bot's names for them were perfect, so I'm going to name them Mungo and Jerry."

"Ugh, fine! Whatever!"

"Hey Roll, what's that behind the curtain?" Axl asked, trying to see around the side edge of the draping cloth. "I think I see a speaker or something."

"Well...I was going to wait until later..." Roll said. "But...oh, well why not show it off now? Alright, X, this present is for you, but I'm sort of hoping that you'll be willing to share it. Go ahead and pull back the curtain!"

"What, everything back there is for me?"

"It sure is! Go look!"

X got up from his chair, putting his video game down in his seat. He eagerly approached the curtain, looking back at Roll. She sweetly smiled, pointing to a rope to the side of the curtain. Without waiting any longer, X started to pull it down, and the curtain pulled over to the side, opening up to reveal a large stage, complete with two microphones with stands, several speakers, and a large, flatscreen monitor that hung on the back wall. Colored lights flashed down on the stage. X knew what it was in an instant.

"Ah! You got me a karaoke stage!"

Roll laughed delightedly as X wandered about the stage, exploring the back and finding the computer that held the songlists. She turned around to see the reactions of the others, and her laughter ended at once. The reploids were staring at the stage in horror (other than Bass, who didn't seem to care). Zero in particular grimaced, and he waved Roll over.

"Roll..." he said. "X...he thinks he can sing, but...he really can't..."

"It's true," Layer nodded, her pity for X evident. "X is terrible at karaoke."

The innocent girl-bot blushed. "Um, well, look at how happy he is! I mean, he can't be that bad, can't he?"

The misery and dark glances the three reploids shared was enough of an answer for Roll. She began to regret her choice of gift. The others felt bad for her, but they felt worse for their own ears.

"Alright!" X exclaimed. "You have the Geddan song on here! I love that song!"

Axl squirmed. "Uh, maybe he'll get better with practice..."

"Hey, there's Sekai wa NeoHappy on here! Come on, Zero, we have to sing this one!"

Bass got up, waving at Treble to follow. "That sounds like my cue to leave."

"Actually, it's mine." Zero held his hand against his ear and let out a tense sigh. "Layer, they're calling us up to work. We better get going."

"Aw..." Roll complained. "We haven't finished giving out presents!"

"This is a police organization, Roll." Zero said as he got up. "Crime doesn't stop on Christmas. Thank you for this, though. It really means a lot."

"Yes, thanks!" Layer joined in. "Don't worry, Alia and Pallette are getting off now since I'm going back on. You have to save some Christmas cheer for them too."

Santa Roll twirled with a cute wink. "I've got plenty of cheer! I guess I won't complain, then!"

Normal Roll watched as Zero and Layer left for their work, and she would have continued to watch what unfolded with the karaoke situation, except GrimMoody's voice brought her out of it.

"There's a couple more things you need to see here." GrimMoody said, in a not altogether happy sort of way. "There's a lot to show you, and we can't stay here too long. I wanted you to see this because it's very heartwarming, and you'll need that. From this point onward, you'll be seeing only that which is specifically important."

"Specifically important?" she asked. "Important to what?"

"To a purpose." GrimMoody seemed only capable of being cryptic. "Now let's go."

With a swish of her hand, Grimm wiped away the lower room, and under the happy, glittery scene was a new scene, one in the normal navigation rooms for regular patrols. It only held the navigation stations for Layer, Alia, Pallette, and one other navigator. Pallette was there, but she left once Layer had her station up and running she left. GrimMoody pointed to Alia, who was bringing Zero to the side. She had in her hand a present, something fairly thin and about the size of a notebook.

It was indeed a notebook, as Zero found when he pulled off the paper. Inside he found several sketches of different designs for a masculine robot, each sporting long, flowing hair and a saber. As Zero turned through more of the pages, the designs seemed to stop varying as much, and the thematic details all seemed to work together for one final design. It was a simpler design, slightly feminine but with an overall efficient edge.

"I know it's a little weird and...presumptuous." Alia said, starting to get nervous. "But these are redesigns for you. I've been working on it for months...ever since I found out."

Alia glanced back at Layer, but her headset was on, and she was busily entering data from her computer and pulling up reports of the missions. As long as they were quiet, she wouldn't hear anything. The pink navigator turned back to Zero, a little more cautiously as she continued to speak about this sensitive matter.

"Bass has been working really hard to make sure you're free of everything, but it's a lot harder than he knows." Alia began. "Even with everything more open now and being able to work specifically on the problem, it's still a far more complicated virus than any of us understand. You seem safe for now, but...I know you don't want to live with this longer than you have to. That's why I want to build for you a replacement body. I know you like your design now, but I don't want to take any risks if we can't get rid of this for you. I've already convinced Bass to make the armor from SC12. He says that's his Christmas present for you."

Alia looked up at Zero with uncertain eyes. She could tell nothing from his stiff expression, but she had known him for so long that she knew when his face was that serious that he was holding back some potent emotion far below the surface.

"I know it's weird, but I wanted you to see this." she said. "I mean, this is supposed to be you. I didn't want to make it look exactly like you as you are now because it might help somehow if people don't know its you. If word of this got out...well, you have to have an escape. You're a good person, Zero, no matter what your creator wanted you to be."

Zero smiled. This year had been one of the worst in his life so far, but just the knowledge that he was accepted warmed him. That was his favorite Christmas present so far. When Alia returned the smile, it was like the sun shone again. He wasn't free from the virus yet, but he knew, one day, he was going to be. No matter what else happened, or how the science behind the research went. He let out a breath.

"Thank you."

"Alright," GrimMoody said. "This part is over."

The images faded away, swirling back into a tie-dye design of grass, wheat, and street as the scene returned to the quiet two lane road outside of Arcadia. This time, Roll hardly noticed the dizzyness as she settled back into the world she knew was normal. GrimMoody still stood before her, carelessly standing in the middle of the road. The girl-bot had to guess that she was keeping any traffic away to keep them from being run over.

\\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- I know that this is a weird place to cut the chapter, but after I was done writing this I found out that the chapter I had intended to put up was a whopping 23,000 words long. So, let's just say I have a buffer now. :D

- For those of you unfamiliar, here is the "Geddan" song [ .com /watch?v=AQIeTjUbqFI] and here's the explanation behind the meme [ .com /watch?v=lFVN8CW5IWE]. Sekai wa NeoHappy [ .com /watch?v=iBnD2oTWfS0].

Mavericks!

Merumeka

=====Brewer Basilisk

**"Tall, grande or venti?"**

Before he was a Maverick, Brewer Basilisk was a barista who worked for "Coffee Dragon" brand coffee, mostly because he is indeed a dragon that makes coffee. As a Maverick, he's still a little annoyed about having such a pathetic job (for a reploid). His attacks include a boiling burst of hot water that comes from his mouth, and he also likes to charge through and grind the player with his sharp scales. The player that beats him gets Boiling Brew, an attack that allows the player to not only shoot but flood lower areas of the game.

"Meka" is a character from an old Sega game, and "meru" made me think of "merrow", which means mermaid. I added the coffee aspect to make it different.

Dark Angel of Wind

=====Bleak Spirit Zephyr

**"You are not entitled to the light."**

Zephyr was constructed by Mavericks, so she has never known life as a normal reploid. She is a tall, thin Maverick with fairy wings, and she wears nothing but black. She has large black eyes, no nose, and two antennae that hang over her face. Her staff shoots pellets that turn into spikes when they land. She can also spin her staff to create wind and then blow you into said spikes. The player that beats her gets the Zephyr Staff, which enables the player to shoot spikes (which they can use for climbing or boosting jumps) and also blow away smaller enemies.


	14. It Turns to Winter

The author stood there in the quiet, two lane street. She and Roll were still there, outside in the country outside of Arcadia. Roll was still blinking and trying to get used to the normal world after the vision of the future she and GrimMoody had appeared inside. It brought about the sensation of swimming through the surface of water after holding your breath for a long time.

"You really are the author, aren't you?" Roll finally said, amazed by what she had seen. "That was...well, really sweet. Thank you for showing me. But, if I'm going to live through that anyway, why did you show me? You didn't have to."

GrimMoody ignored this question, instead choosing to talk on about the Maverick Wars. "Like I said, the War will end soon. In fact, in a little over than three years, the Maverick Hunters will be excessively big. There will always be robots that go haywire on occasion for whatever reason, but the official war will be done and faded away. Signas began to send Hunters away to other towns to become regular assistants to the normal police or additions to human armies, citing that this world need to be a world where humans and reploids need to get along."

"Does that mean Bass thought of a way to cure the Maverick virus?"

The author scoffed. "No way. Do you really think that a robot like Bass can cure it? He's not a scientist, Roll. Already he feels overwhelmed by the burden he has now. He's going to try everything he can and knows to cure the virus, but well, it's not an easy thing to do. Even now the Mavericks are narrowing, weakening without the influence of Sigma. Illegal copy chips are being cracked down on, and there's just no powerful Maverick who can really lead them like before."

Roll nodded. "So...things are getting better?"

"Oh yes. X is actually able to leave the Hunters for a while and start working in politics, a place he is surprisingly far better suited. Axl and Zero stay with the Hunters, and after several years, Bass actually comes up with a way to upgrade his busters, finally being able to fight again the way he wants to."

"Wonderful!" the girl-bot laughed. "I bet he was really happy about that."

"Actually, not as happy as you might think. He just didn't care that much anymore." GrimMoody said. "He's already given most of his hope to Axl, so much so that he never even bothered to take the tests to become S rank. Bass is more proud of the guy than you might expect. Mostly he was happy about joining Axl so they can fight together. And Treble."

"What do you mean, 'and Treble'?" Roll was curious. "Doesn't Treble always fight with Bass?"

"Well, let's show you this."

Instead of swirling the world around them again, GrimMoody traced a large square in the air, and it turned completely black before it light up, bright like a television. Roll stepped closer to it, peering into the strange void. It wasn't at all like watching something on TV. It was like witnessing real life in complete 3D, natural and not an image made up of tiny dots.

**Treble growled. He sniffed abruptly at Bass' legs, nudging them impatiently. Bass didn't respond. He was too busy working at the computer, his face in a constant stage of grimace and desperation that it always was when he was researching cures for the Maverick virus. His own anti-virus programs didn't work, and trying to figure out something that would ran the risk of driving Bass to drink. Fortunately for those around Forte, no one had ever invented alcohol for reploids, so he just had to continue his futile battle against the Maverick virus.**

**Treble nudged his master again, bored. He couldn't help with the science. He wanted to go bite something. It had been too long since he'd had the taste of Maverick "flesh" in his mouth.**

**"Leave me alone!" Bass hissed, hating all interruptions. **

**"Rrrrr..." Treble growled, obeying nonetheless. If he wasn't going to get what he wanted, he was going to make sure that Bass knew about it.**

**"Hey Bass, I'm off to find you more Maverick CPUs to test on!" **

**Out of nowhere, Axl appeared with this merry greeting. Bass however, growled almost as loudly as his dog at the sound of another interruption. "Fine."**

**"Hey boy, how are you doing, buddy?" **

**Axl reached down to pet Treble, but all he got for his trouble was a doggy whine. The wolf settled his head grumpily back on the floor, ignoring the more cheerful Hunter.**

**"Take him on the mission, will you?" Bass hissed. "He's bored out of his mind and driving me nuts."**

**"Uh..." Axl hesitated. "Are you sure about that? I don't think Signas will approve-"**

**"Just do it and don't tell him!" Bass snapped, concentrating on a nasty bit of programming. "Come on, are you really going to say no to that?"**

**Axl looked down again at the purple wolf, and sure enough Treble had given a slight wag to his tail, and stared up at Axl looking as sad as he could. Axl bit his lip at the poor thing. He wouldn't want to go too long without fighting either.**

**"Well...okay, but if I get in trouble I'm blaming you. Come on, boy! Let's go get some Mavericks!"**

**Treble immediately jumped to his paws, barking with excitement. He and Axl raced each other out of the room and to the navigation room's teleporter.**

"Oh...so Treble is Axl's assistant for a while." Roll said, clapping her hands merrily. "That's actually really cute!"

"Right. That was even the case a lot of the time after Bass gets his busters upgraded. Bass did stay on doing the research for the Maverick virus a lot of the time, but at times he did go back to his native fighting. Him and Zero actually become pretty good friends."

"What?" Roll exclaimed with delight. "Really?"

"Yeah." GrimMoody smiled at the joy on Roll's face. "You're beginning to see signs of it now. It takes them a while, but eventually they pretty much forget how much they hate each other. They come to see each other more or less as siblings, in a weird, demented sort of way."

"What about Alia and the navigators? What happens to them?"

"They do various things, mostly in keeping with the Hunters. Alia was always too attached to the Hunters to really give that job up, and Layer wanted to stay on working for Zero. Pallette left the force to become an archeologist once the war was legally declared over. That left Alia to become Axl's navigator, and you became Bass'."

"What? Me?" Roll hesitated. "But I don't know anything about that job!"

"You learn." GrimMoody shrugged, brushing back some of the hair in her face. The wind was starting to pick up, and a light breeze was making Roll's hair flutter about as well. "Especially after the capsule starts working for good."

Roll knew what that meant. Dr. Light's capsule was the only thing that had brought her back to her sanity after the heartache and struggle that had begun from Dr. Light's death. Roll didn't know how she would carry on if she didn't have her creator to serve. She wanted to cry.

"But...but..."

"I'm sorry, Roll, but that's just the way things go. Dr. Light's capsules are old, and there are certain parts you can't replace without shutting down the mind inside and damaging it permanently. You know that already."

"It's...it's just not fair."

"You got more time with him than anyone normally gets." GrimMoody noted, adding in a little sternness to drive in her point. "And besides, nothing lasts forever, anyway."

"Okay..." Roll took a deep breath. "But everyone else is fine, right?"

Moody nodded. "Yes...for some time. X manages to get legislation passed that grants reploids more rights. His education reforms provide new jobs. Things really start to look up for reploids."

"Then why did you say 'for some time'?"

"Eh, it's like I said, nothing lasts forever."

Suddenly, the author was wearing a jacket. It hadn't been there a second before, but Roll couldn't remember it appearing. It was still a sunny day, so why would she even need a jacket?

"It started with Zero." GrimMoody explained, ignoring Roll's confusion. "Once this war ended, he found himself lost. He didn't realize how much the fighting had distracted him from himself. He never knew who he was. All of Zero's good existence was spent fighting the Mavericks, and with less work to do it became harder for him to ignore this reality any longer. Ever since you and Bass showed up, it's been worse for Zero. The guilt he experienced over the existence of Mavericks became unbearable. He never said anything, even to X, about this made him feel."

"I don't want him to be guilty!" exclaimed Roll. "It wasn't his fault!"

"No, but he could hardly see it any other way. Wouldn't you feel just as bad? To make it worse, he always knew that some remnant of the virus - or else just some bad programming from Wily - was still within him. He was afraid that this could possibly mean that the virus would return one day. So, he made a difficult choice."

The big screen from the last scene GrimMoody had shown was still there, completely black. However, she touched the corner of it, and it at once lightened up with a new vision for Roll to behold.

**The unfamiliar lab was crowded with restore capsules, as if it were some kind of hospital for reploids. Some of the capsules appeared to be occupied, but all in all the room felt a little lonely. That was even with the two robots standing there talking. One was Zero, and the other was a scientist, someone who wasn't recognisable.**

**"...I see." the scientist said. "It'll take a while to get rid of this. Even with the latest technology, it's hard to succeed. I'm not really sure if I can fix this completely."**

**"Don't worry." Zero answered. "I must do it before it's too late."**

**The stranger scientist shook his head as he opened one of the capsule's force doors. "But you haven't had any problems yet. You'll be fine as you are, won't you? It's none of my business, but what will we do in a crisis without you?"**

**"Ha, I'm sorry, but don't worry." They ponytailed Hunter entered the capsule, lying down and shifting into it more comfortably. "There's a superior Maverick Hunter. But I'm scared that I might become a disturbing presense."**

**The scientist peered down at Zero, a little curious. "...I agree. You look ready."**

**"Yeah..." Zero said. "So when will I wake up?"**

**"If there is no problem, it will be around August 15th, 102 years from now."**

**"Right...here's to a successful sleep."**

**"I'll do my best. Have a good sleep!"**

**With that, the capsule lid slid down over Zero, and the stranger pushed the proper buttons on the controls. With a beep of the computer, he knew that Zero was powered down, secure in sleep mode.**

"Oh...he's obviously trying to free himself from the virus..." Roll felt her heart sink. Zero had never been anything but kind to her, and the housekeeper-bot could only imagine how Zero shutting himself away would make X feel. "So he's going to be free of the virus after that?"

"Uh..." GrimMoody thought about it for a minute. "Well, yeah, pretty much. I guess he never did have to worry about it actually being in his CPU afterwards. It was such a hard procedure that they actually had to separate Zero's mind from his body later just in case something went wrong. As paranoid as he was that the virus would be accidentally spread by him, that was the one thing that didn't happen. Mavericks never completely went away, they were just under control. And in 22XX, their numbers started to rise. X was forced to quit politics and return to being a fighter. It was all Bass and Axl could do to keep the Mavericks from becoming as bad as they got in the first Maverick War."

"But didn't somebody cure the virus?" Roll's voice grew as if her volume would somehow produce what she wanted. "They've been working on it so long!"

"It's a very complicated virus, Roll. Really, it's the most complicated thing that Dr. Wily ever made. But yeah, they did make a cure. It's this thingy called Mother Elf, a sentient computer program that can erase the virus. Other elves were invented at that time for other purposes, like healing or increasing stamina, but the Mother Elf was especially powerful. I personally feel it was made from Zero's mind.

"This was invented by an unknown scientist, who was a female. A collegue of hers, Dr. Weil, was so jealous of her accomplishment that he began to want the Mother Elf for himself and his evil purposes. He had a complex plan, but in the end he knew that if he got what he needed, he could bring the world to its knees. The Elf was too powerful on its own to simply be stolen right off, so he had to find another way."

As the window through time lit again, Roll found herself dreading the very sight of it. But her mind wouldn't let her look away. She wanted to know without knowing why she wanted it. Before she could think this through and argue with herself one way or another, the scene had already started.

**It was a dark, starry night, fairly peaceful in appearance. Axl was standing outside a rather common looking office building, and he pulled out a set of keys from his armor to open the door. Once Axl had entered and locked the door behind himself, the feel of the situation changed entirely. A new set of Maverick Hunters were on guard, all of them invisible from the outside. **

**"Hey, Axl!" a happy Pallette greeted him. "Good to see you're alright!"**

**"Hi. I heard you rejoined the service again." Axl grinned. "Hey, are you ready to go? The sooner this mission is completed, the better I'll feel."**

**"You're the real slowpoke around here!" his former navigator teased. "Zero is waiting on you. Where did you go?"**

**"I just ran into a few Mavericks, nothing I can't handle!" the Hunter winked. "Come on, let's get this mission done! The sooner we get Zero's body back to his head already."**

**Pallette ordered two of her guards to go with her and Axl as they went deeper into the facility. The last room they entered was familiar: it was the room where Zero had stored himself for the duration of his 102 year sleep. Zero's calm, expressionless face was visible through the window on the capsule, and he looked more peaceful than he ever did during his activation. Pallette went over to the console and began to input the proper codes to initiate the opening of the capsule.**

**Axl scratched his head. "I don't think Zero will like it that we're stopping the process early."**

**"He'll hate it worse if we make him skip out on this war." Pallette said. "You know he always takes this kind of thing personally."**

**"Yeah, I guess so. Hey, why can't we just bring his CPU back to his body? It's a lot more trouble to bring the body to the mind."**

**"Not that much." Pallette started on the last of the codes. "Besides, transporting either one is risky, and Mavericks would want his mind more than his body. We can't let Zero fall into enemy hands. Ah, there we go, got it open!"**

**As the front plating of the capsule started to lift, Axl switched to his white armor. Quicker than lightning his arms shot out, placing a chip in each of the necks of the two guards with him. Pallette turned back, catching Axl insert the last chip.**

**"Uh...what are you doing?"**

**Slowly, white Axl turned around and faced the now horrified Pallette. Distracted by the collapse and subsequent spasms of the guards, she didn't at first notice the expression change on Axl. But she did notice it. He waited long enough for her to see his malicious, demonized grin - a completely un-Axl expression - and for her to begin to scream.**

**But only just.**

**Axl charged, and as many shots as the desperate Pallette fired from her weapon, it did no good at all. He had her snatched up by the neck without so much as flinching from her plasma gun.**

**"You're wrong, Pallette." This voice was definitely not Axl's "To us 'Mavericks', the body **_**is**_** more important than the mind."**

**"But no, you can't-!"**

**Pallette knew she was going to die, but she had no more time to think of better last words. Her body fell to the ground, and then so did the several parts of her severed head. Piece by piece Axl ripped away armor, skin, and structrual supports, finally getting to the CPU underneath. He smashed it in his hands.**

**"Hey you, don't just stand there." Axl scoffed at the guards. "Come get this guy so we can get out of here. This place stinks of Hunters."**

**The two guards, unnoticed til this point, had stopped their seizures and now seemed calm, confident even. In any case, they obeyed their master without complaint and went over to go haul the body. One of them pulled out a knife, cutting off Zero's hair to make him easier to carry. Axl seemed to enjoy this, and he grinned. Glancing around the room, he looked up to see a video camera spying on them. He waved, vicious and merry.**

"No!" Roll shouted at the screen. "Axl can't get the Maverick virus! It's not possible!"

Wincing at the volume of Roll's voice, GrimMoody rubbed her ears. "Ow. Well, you have to consider that the Maverick virus is just one thing. Just because Axl can't get that, doesn't mean something else can't happen to him. I mean, it would have to be really powerful to get him, but still. Heck, you've looked at Maverick Hunter history. Remember that time that X and the gang went to go fight Sigma on the moon? Y'know, that whole Jakob elevator thing?"

Roll gasped. "Lumine! He...he did something to Axl when they thought he'd been defeated!"

"Yep. Lifesaver and Alia scanned Axl dozens of times each, and they figured that because they couldn't find anything, that Axl was fine. He wasn't. Well, he sort of was, but there was still the most important part of Lumine's data still inside of him. It couldn't really do anything by itself, but Lumine had made plans. See, that whole orbital elevator plot was to use the Hunters to the Maverick's advantage. It didn't turn out quite how they wanted, but in the end it worked out for them."

"He was always planning to get inside Axl's head? But...what if Axl didn't show up that day? What if it had been someone else?"

"Uh, well, I personally don't think Lumine was being that specific." GrimMoody explained. "He would take anyone he could get, I suspect. Getting inside Zero's mind potentially could have returned Zero to the evil state Dr. Wily had always planned for him to become. Getting inside X's would corrupt him, resulting in a worse demon than even Dr. Wily could possibly imagine. Of the three, Axl was the least dangerous...sort of. Being as he was a copy-type robot, this enabled Lumine to make himself survive in fuller form than it would have been with the others."

"Lumine took over Axl's body..." Roll said in little more than a whisper. "Poor Bass must have been devastated."

"Yeah. Actually, X figured out pretty quickly what the real deal was with Lumine, so nobody thought it was the real Axl for long. X is good at that kind of thing." The jacket on GrimMoody's shoulders turned into a coat, and she had to start tying up her long hair to keep the wind from blowing it back in her face. "Lumine wasn't ever that interested in Axl's body, though. He wanted his own, and he needed Zero's. Then...yeah, I'll just show you."

"I don't want to watch it anymore." Roll stomped her foot on the road for impact. "I don't want to hear it! I don't believe you or anything you say and I don't want to listen to you anymore! Just leave me alone!"

"Roll, chickie, you can't stop now." For once the resolved gaze of the author showed something like pity. "You already said yes. Besides, I think you do believe me. And if you don't finish here, how will you ever live without dreading the future, knowing that what I said will come to pass? Think about it."

"Does it get better than this?" Roll pleaded, her hands desperately clasped together. "Does the war end and everything turn out alright? Is Axl okay, and everyone else too?"

There was silence for a moment, and in that moment GrimMoody adopted an expression that reminded Roll of Dr. Light, when he would grow stern with her when she was afraid - Dr. Light never got fully angry. It was the sort of look that disquieted Roll, reminding her of days when she had to stop being so fearful and let Mega Man go defeat the latest Wily robot master team, trusting that he would come back. The girl-bot somehow knew that she was going to have to be brave. Her hope rose within her.

"No." GrimMoody promptly stabbed all Roll's hopes in the chest. "Things do not turn out alright."

The screen began again, without any prompting from the author.

**Bass dashed through the hallways, getting more and more impatient. And when he wasn't doing that, he was getting more angry. This technological facility was the operations point of the new Mavericks, and they were planning something big. It had been weeks since they had stolen Zero's body, and by now there was no telling what had been done with it. The only thing Bass was certain of was that he was going to kill Lumine for what he had done. He swore it, breathing each next breath by it.**

**Spies had determined the layout of the technical facility, and Bass used the map in his head to see that the double doors he was heading for lead into a large warehouse. Forte dashed faster, guessing that he would find something in there. He entered, as silent as he had trained himself to be.**

**The half-lit room was filled with technological whatnots, more than Bass could immediately identify. Computers galore were in the room, but most of them didn't seem to be on. Fuel pumps hung from the ceiling and were scattered across the floor, leading Bass to believe that something very large and very Maverick had once been in this room. There was nothing anymore. The Mavericks had to have gotten word that the Hunters were coming, and they had dropped everything in the rush to get away.**

**"You and your Hunter friends came a bit earlier than I expected." A voice rang out, echoing so much in the huge room that there was almost no way of determining its location. "I'm impressed, a little."**

**"Get the hell out here and face me!" **

**It was difficult for Bass to be so loud when his teeth were so firmly gritted, but he managed it. His shout was rewarded with a presense floating down from the ceiling. It was Not-Axl, Lumine in the Hunter's white armor. He hovered there with evil in his eyes, staring down at the dark robot with intense glee. Bass' immediately flinched from the sight, before snapping into an even worse rage. Seeing what Lumine had done to Axl was too much.**

**"Let him go, Lumine." the threats in Bass' voice poisoned the air. **

**Lumine cocked his head to the side, musing over this and just enjoying Bass' fury. Then he promptly shrugged.**

**"Very well, if that's what you want!"**

**At this, long metal tentacles reached out, clasping at Axl's body. The eyes went open with shock, and he began to scream. The voice that at once had been so evil and hateful changed, returning to normal as the ear-shattering scream went out longer and longer. Bass gasped. Whatever Lumine was doing, it had to be painful. All at once the screaming stopped, and Axl thunked to the floor, now in his regular armor. Forte wasted no time staring. He just dashed forward as fast as he could. **

**"Bass..." the Hunter called out weakly, unable to lift himself from the floor.**

**"I'm coming, kid!"**

**Lights blinked on, revealing exactly what Lumine had done. He was now in a different body, one fairly similar to the one he had used before. At least the hair was the same, and he had the taint of something feminine (it looked terrible on him). His armor's coloring was white and yellow, and he had four large wings, each a malevolent black/grey. He smiled, and it was not at all a warm or comforting smile.**

**"Like this body? Dr. Weil built it for me. You should see what he's done with Zero's." Lumine began, who, besides speaking, was doing nothing more than stand atop a large computer. "I've had a lot of time to spend in Axl's mind, Bass. You know, he really admired you."**

**Bass didn't listen. He had to reach Axl, who was still struggling to widen the short distance between himself and Lumine. He struggled to move, forcing his hands to pull him along. Lumine watched with demented pleasure, his grin cheshire.**

**"'Robots don't have family', huh, Bass? Are you really sure about that?" Lumine continued, letting one of his hands wiggle dangerously, as if summoning some sort of weapon. "You never seemed to take that principle very seriously. You always spent time with Axl, listening to him, helping him improve as a fighter...one might actually believe that you see Axl as your child. I know Axl does."**

**"Shut the hell up and leave him alone!" Bass was getting closer, and he readied his busters. "I'll kill you if you touch him!"**

**"As if you wouldn't **_**try **_**to kill me otherwise." Lumine laughed a little, then peered into Bass' worried face. "You have so much concern for him that you stopped caring about your own fighting. Don't lie to me now, I saw it all through Axl's eyes. You almost forgot about it completely. After all, what did it matter, if Axl could be even better than you..."**

**"Bass..."**

**Axl had the power to smile, faintly. By this time, Bass was almost at Axl's side, trying to get to him. If only he could just grab his hand, then he could teleport Axl out of there, and-**

**Lumine was faster. Much faster. In an instant, he rushed forward. There wasn't so much as two feet between Bass and Axl when he attacked, swooping down and stomping down on Axl, smashing a foot into the Hunter's head. His helmet offered no significant resistance; there was nothing left but shattered computer bits. When Lumine flew up and out of Bass' reach, but the dark robot hardly noticed. **

**In that instance, everything inside Bass disappeared. He had no pride and no hope. Not even any anger. There was nothing there whatsoever. He didn't believe anything before his eyes. His broken heart wouldn't let him. Everything was gone, taken away from him in that one instant. Without any mental acknowledgement, his hands wandered to Axl's remains as if shaking the Hunter's shoulder's would wake him.**

**"You even wanted him to outlive you." Lumine said, cooly and with upturned lips. "Just like any good parent."**

**Bass lifted his head, finding still some strength to be mad. He glowered at Lumine, unable to do anything more than shake as the horror and rage simultaneously emitted from his eyes.**

**"You're an excellent father, Bass." The evil reploid gave him a pleasant salute. "Top-notch."**

**Even as Lumine said this, a cloud of white light filled the air around him, and he disappeared, the smoky glow along with. That left the room dark, symbolic enough of the cold void now eating its way through Bass. He wanted so desperately to deny what had just happened. He went back in time in his mind and imagined all different scenarios, each with a different outcome than this. But this was the truth, the reality of the situation beyond any mental objection Bass could make. **

**He tenderly lifted Axl's shoulder. Metal shards fell away as he moved the body, sliding down the mess of Axl's hair. Not knowing why he was doing it, Bass turned him over, looking one last time at the robot's face. It was horrible. Axl's face was flattened and cracked, and his lips were stretched grotesquely away from his mechanical jaw, its teeth jagged and broken. A thin cranial support shot though the side of his face, tearing through the simulated skin. This was no longer his son. It was a wreck.**

**Forte's shoulders began to shake. He tightly held the body, then did something he had never done before in his life. Wail. His crying was loud, and in it was no trace of dignity or any of Bass' stubborn pride. He could hide none of his grief. His son was gone, and there was nothing he could do to change it.**

**Hearing the noise, X dashed into the room, buster ready. He dashed a few feet away from Bass, then paused. He could see from there that it was Axl, but he refused to believe it, thinking that something in his mind was deceiving him. He tried to let himself think that the darkness of the room was throwing him off, but it frightened him to see that Bass was so unafraid to weep openly. X's buster lowered automatically as he forced himself to get a better look. From what little remained of the face, X knew that the peppy Hunter had always spurred him on would no longer be there, confident and unafraid.**

**A light had gone out.**

**X collapsed to his knees. He began to shake uncontrollably. He didn't want this death to affect him so much; he had seen so much death before, of both human and reploid, stranger and friend. The years of experience didn't help. This hit X with every bit of heartwrenching pain any of his previous losses. He closed his eyes, horrified still by Bass' frantic weeping. X lifted a still shaking hand, trying to activate his comm. Professionalism was his only escape.**

**"Alia..." his voice cracked. "It's Axl...he..."**

**He stopped. In the battle between professionalism and grief, grief had won. It was a bitter victory.**

Well before the vision had ended, Roll was crying. She buried her face in her hands, shaking. GrimMoody, on the other hand, was stern. She didn't seem very affected by the scene they had witnessed, and just stood there.

"It's just not fair!" Roll cried. "Poor Axl was such a good Hunter...he didn't deserve this! You can't do this to him! And to Bass! Please tell me that Bass had a plan to make this right!"

"Uh...well, being the sort of dude Bass is," GrimMoody answered. "He's definitely out for revenge. Definitely his thing. Trouble is, if he was fast enough to defeat Lumine, then he would have been fast enough to save Axl. In short, he can't do it and he knows it. So he has to come up with a different plan."

Why in the world Roll pulled her hands from her face and took another look at that terrible vision screen GrimMoody had set up was beyond her. She never could have explained this, except maybe by some sick curiousity. All the same, she found herself watching again something new terrible.

**"You can't possibly really want to do this." X's face was contorted with doubt. "Not for Zero."**

**He was speaking to Bass, who was busily running from computer to computer in the lab, pushing several buttons loading data. It was his own schematics, plus the schematics of a different robot. It was the new Zero's blueprints. On one of two repair tables lay Zero's new body itself. The other was empty.**

**"Of course I'm not doing it for Zero." Bass snapped back, not letting X interrupt his work. "If I was going to do something for him I'd let him stay dead. He'd like that a lot better than coming back and seeing how the crap Omega tore up the planet in the past eight months. I'm strong enough to admit that he's better than me, and if you want him back to be actually able to defeat Omega then there's no other option."**

**"Are you sure about that? Isn't some there some other way?"**

**"Damn you to Hell, X!" Bass' glare was as menacing as his volume was loud. "Don't act like you haven't hated me since day one! I'm going to be gone soon so you can cheer the hell up and be happy now. Don't you for one second act like you wouldn't want it any other way."**

**X opened his mouth, wanted to object to this conjecture. He couldn't; the only reason he wanted to "win" the debate was because of how much he didn't want the dark robot getting away with the last word. He did hate Bass, even before meeting him. X just slammed his mouth shut, glaring at the smaller robot with all the hate he really did have for him.**

**"It's not that I care." X found the words to argue. "It just doesn't seem like you to do this without trying to find some way to live."**

**Bass impatiently shoved a data pad in X's hands. "I explained all this before. Zero is a bassnium powered robot. Since Omega has his normal power core, we can't put Zero's brain in this body without making him suffer massive power loss." Bass tapped his chest armor as he got on the first repair table and laid down. "I'm the only one with bassnium on this stupid planet and nobody knows how to make more. Even if they could, they wouldn't know how to make a power core that could process it. I can't defeat Omega or Lumine, so it's up to you and your boyfriend to fix this crap. That is, if you can make the power core transfer without screwing it up."**

**X began to wish more than ever that Alia was still alive, but she had been one of the first casualties of Omega. She was dead, and that left this up to X. X could only hope that this would work. As much as he really did despise Bass, there was something about this that just seemed wrong. It was unjust of him to have to give up his power core for another. He felt bad for Bass despite himself.**

**"Do you really want to die?" X asked.**

**This question produced a strange effect in Bass, he stared up at the ceiling with glazed eyes, like a man finding himself face to face with a ghost or ghoul that he had no ability to stop. He was peering outside of the situation, before all the robot wars and before mankind had truly known what a terror the robot race could be to them. He was taking one last look at those few happy years of his life, trying to ignore how the years before and definitely the years after had swallowed them all whole. Bass had never done anything in his life that made any difference in the end, he told himself, and had done nothing to truly stop what the earth now faced. **

**"I should have died two hundred years ago." Bass said, his voice firm and bitter. "Now hurry up."**

**Bass closed his eyes and powered down. X approached his quiet form with some reluctance. This was going to be harder than he expected. X, however, was not dishonest with himself. If he had to choose between Zero and his brother, X would pick Zero every time. Yet, despite that, X felt once more that bitter sting of loss. Bass was selfish, arrogant, and violent, but X still wanted him to live. It was too late. X was just out of options.**

"That's not Bass!" Roll cried out in protest as the vision screen faded to black once more. "Bass is obstinate and determined! He would never give up, not in a million years! Bass wouldn't give up! Never ever!"

"Is that so?" Moody commented. "I don't think even you believe that so much any more. He's changed a lot since the first generation days. You've seen it. What you don't know is the real reason why Bass was at the junkyard that day he found you."

"He...said he was lost..."

"He wasn't, sort of. He was going to kill himself."

Roll gasped in horror, so rocked by sobs that she didn't have the voice to tell the author to stop. GrimMoody just continued to tell the story, staunchly avoiding the emotions that were coursing through Roll.

"Bass changed his mind about just falling into the trash compactor that day," Grimm said. "Because that was too cowardly. In the end he decided on fighting as many Mavericks as he could until his body finally gave out. Once he found you, he decided to live. You've been the one keeping him alive all this time, Roll. Without that promise he made to take care of you, he wouldn't have wanted to live at all. You gave him enough hope to live on until he could learn to appreciate everyone around him. The Cyber Elf War made him forget again, especially when he started losing friends. He was always competitive, Roll. When someone like that feels they aren't good enough to compete, what will they do then?"

The little hope left in Roll faded, and she paled. So much of her hope rested on Bass, the only one still left who knew about what she had gone through. As her guardian, Bass never failed to make her feel safe. Only recently had she learned how deep he really was, but this was too deep. She didn't want to see his brokenness.

"He did the right thing...didn't he?" Roll choked. "It was good of him to save Zero. Omega...what was that thing?"

"Oh yeah, I didn't mention that yet." GrimMoody said. "My bad. So, um, Omega is this huge robot thing that Dr. Weil made from Zero's body that he stole before. Since it didn't have a mind, he combined it with the Mother Elf - now called the Dark Elf - to form this mad strong being that can control all reploids. Well, not all of them because it didn't get X and several Hunters too. I'm actually not sure what kind of effectiveness it had. However, I do know that the war against Omega was so bad that only 90% of reploids survived and only 60% of all humans. The war only lasted four years, but the Dark Elf's army did that much damage. It had to have been a big army."

"Please don't show me a clip of that!" Roll blurted out. "I don't want to see us lose the war!"

"I wasn't going to. That's gross. But uh, you didn't lose. You won."

The housekeeper-bot was appalled. Just when she thought she couldn't stare in dead surprise any longer, there was another piece of bad news. Was there anything in the world that would not crumble at the slightest touch? Roll was an optimistic robot normally, but the ground she stood on was falling around her. She found herself wondering all the things X did about war - mainly when it would stop.

"That's right, you won." GrimMoody seemed only the more oblivious to Roll's despair, though now a pink scarf appeared around her neck. "Lumine was the first to fall. Actually that was pretty early on. Eh, why don't I explain that? Here, take a look."

"I don't want to."

GrimMoody didn't respond. She just touched the black rectangle, bringing it back to life and making the horrid image of two enemies appear on it. Roll hated herself for not having the self-control to turn her gaze away.

**One was Lumine, the winged false angel. The other was an older man, wrinked and disgusting. He had the appearance of sitting in a barrel of brine for six months - probably having something to do with the fact he was indeed contained in some sort of suit filled with something that looked rather like a pickling juice. The suit peaked over his head like a pyramid. He indeed looked like a true, monstrous villain. The two appeared to be inside some sort of monitoring station, filled with all manner of computer screens and maps. **

**"Some fine war you are running, Dr. Weil." Lumine scoffed. "We're suffering a lot of reploid casualties."**

**"Relax." the older man waved him off. "This only the beginning. Omega is our most powerful robot. Once he defeats the strongest cities on the earth, then the miserable humans will be too weak and afraid! they will surrender. Just relax and trust me."**

**"Yes," Lumine rolled his eyes. "So you've been saying since the beginning of this conflict. I thought we were creating the ideal reploid world here."**

**"Well, if that's what you want then it's not going to be easy to achieve. In fact, you may want to start with the Hunters right now running through our facility."**

**Lumine looked at the monitor Dr. Weil was pointing to, exclaiming, "What? They're not supposed to be here yet!"**

**"You'd better go an deal with that, then, if you want to be the leader of a reploid world."**

**The bright Maverick glanced back at his human counterpart, disdainful but not unamused. He flapped his wings lightly, thinking how nice it would be to be rid of the human. But he needed Dr. Weil, so he was going to have to let him live, for the time being. Little did he know that Dr. Weil was thinking very similarly, though Weil wasn't certain he needed Lumine anymore.**

**-t-**

**X dashed through the hallway, his buster blazing through the enemy mechaniloids. The Maverick Hunters had heard that this was the facility housing their worst enemies, and they weren't going to let them get away with what they had done. They had heard that Omega was going to be gaining a new source of power, and they had to be there to stop it.**

**That's right, "they". Zero, living in his new body, followed right after X and charged in front of him to slash at the enemy mechaniloids with furvor of his own. He was accompanied by a glowing light, this one purple and shimmering lightly as it flew over him. **

**"Where are we going to find this power source, X?" Zero called back as he fought. **

**X checked an internal map loaded in his mind. This facility had once been Miyomoto Mechanics, so finding their way around couldn't be too hard. **

**"We need to go left through the next hallway, then it should be straight on through to the old factory floor. That's where the signals for the Mother Elf are coming from."**

**Zero's lips tightened. "Whatever happens here is not going to be good. The poor Elf...there's no telling what Dr. Weil did to her."**

**That was the end of the conversation. They both focused on fighting the waves of baddies that were sent at them, fighting with all the years of cunning and expertise that they had gained in the century of their lives. Nothing stopped them for long, and as it became apparent that nothing would, a new enemy arrived. It was Lumine, his evil grin bearing down on them as it never had since the end of the Jakob elevator incident. **

**"Lumine!" X exclaimed, his voice darkened with rage. He hadn't forgotten Axl. **

**"Well, if it isn't X, and there's Zero following right along as well!" Lumine seemed almost proud of the pair, in a perverse sort of way. "Ah, I see it's as hard to kill you as everyone says it is, Zero. But I think that's something I can succeed in. You are, after all, inferior reploids. Evolution has passed you by, both of you. The time has come for your final elimination. And I'll start by taking away your extra power!"**

**Lumine was quick, dashing in and snatching the cyber elf from Zero, absorbing its power into his own body. The shock of the two heros stayed only a second before it turned into just regular surprise. X shrugged.**

**"Well, that was easy." Zero said.**

**"It sure was. Let's get going, then." **

**X, his features hardening with both pain and pride, stared up firmly into the eyes of Lumine. His voice was calm, and his resolve never flinched for a moment. **

**"Goodbye, Bass."**

**"Bass? What?" a startled Lumine said. "Wait, get back here...oh no..."**

**As the Hunters departed, Lumine searched his mind. Sure enough, the cyber elf he absorbed was indeed named Bass. This realization had come far too late, and the false angel could feel the all of the security alarms in his mind going off as the cyber elf tore into his systems, shutting down his brain from the inside. This was the end.**

**"No!" Lumine screamed, though there was no one to hear him. "You can't turn reploids into cyber elves! It's just not possible!"**

_**"Believe it, bastard. I told you I was going to kill you."**_

**The Maverick froze. This was what the Hunters had been planning all along for him, and he had been stupid enough to not only fall for it, but to bring it on his own head. All of his anger would not save him. It was all over. Everything started going dark, and the power flunctuations Bass forced on him brought Lumine to his knees.**

_**"For Axl..."**_

**The explosion rocked the halls, even as far as where X and Zero had travelled in the meantime. Zero winced as he felt the shockwave, but otherwise said nothing. They had an enemy to stop. Going through a set of double doors, X and Zero found themselves on the factory floor of the once glorious Miyomoto Mechanics, where everything was now a mess. Automated arms and conveyer belt wreckage was all over the floor, making walking difficult as the two wondered where to look next.**

**"I don't understand it." X said. "She was supposed to be here...there she is!"**

**Sure enough, the large cyber elf was found hiding in the rafters, and they could detect the fear that she eminated. That, however, was not the only observation they were able to make. She had changed. Her color was no longer bright. Dark waves of purple encased her, writhing about her and blinding her to freedom outside of the black boundaries. Out of nowhere an evil laughter rang out, and from the shadows appeared Dr. Weil.**

**"I have been waiting for you, X." Weil laughed. "In fact, I was waiting until you were right here to witness my greatest advancement to the field of science!"**

**"Advancement nothing!" X yelled in reply. "All I see in front of me is perversion! Free the Mother Elf at once!"**

**"If you want that so bad, why don't you just make me?" Weil haughtily scoffed. "Take her back, if you can. Oh, wait, it's already too late. Omega!"**

**The large robot appeared. He was as tall as the warehouse itself, and if the roof was as much as a foot lower, then Omega wouldn't be able to fit inside. The hulking robot had two arms held on only by energy, and several translucent panels were on him that made his inner workings visible from the outside. This in fact made up his face. A wide puff of hair stuck out from the back of his head, a pale imitation of the body Omega had once been. **

**X sneered at the imitation, then growled seeringly at Weil. "Weil, I don't know what you mean to do with this, but do you honestly think that all this war will make you happy? Are you so jealous of other peoples' happiness that you have to spoil everything? We could be living in an age of peace, you rotten monster! I've fought for too long for you to make a mess of everything!"**

**"You reploids have been fighting forever, haven't you?" the doctor sneered at the Hunters, letting his aura of superiority expand even further. "None of this would have happened if it weren't for you reploids. Do you dare criticize me for the things that I do? You had your chance to appreciate me, and you failed! Now I shall command the wars of robots!"**

**With this, the darkness that choked and strangled the Mother Elf dragged her over to Omega, forcing her to merge with the terrifying machine. Omega brimmed with power. A light that was not light shone out from him, darkening the room. X and Zero had to cover their eyes until finally the force was gone. **

**"Something's not right here..." Zero said as quietly as he could to X. "I can...sense something. I think it's one of my powers, one of the things that Wily wanted me to have...it's different somehow..."**

**"Bwaahahahahaha!" Dr. Weil burst out with fresh, malicious laughter before Zero finished speaking. Weil gestured grandly at his evil creation, showing it off to the suspicious Hunters. "This you behold before you is my way of controlling all the reploids in the world! You fools underestimated the power of the Mother Elf, and now she is mine!"**

**X gasped. "No...this can't be happening!"**

**"Oh, trust me, it is, X!" Weil's horrible laughter sounded like drowning - the fluids in his suit only made it so much worse. He drew closer to the robots, hovering down to them. "What happens next is up to you, X. Now that I have control of the world's robots, I can do horrible things. I can murder many humans. I can start a war that no one will end! But X, if you and Zero surrender to me and allow me to rule this world, then I shall have pity. I will make things right! Choose wisely. I already am gathering an army outside this factory that you will have to fight your way out of. Which will it be, Maverick Hunters?"**

**X glanced at Zero uncertainly. Ever the rational one, Zero felt at a loss. The choices were both ugly, and there was little he could do about it. He turned to his best friend in the world with the worst advice he felt he had ever given.**

**"X..." he said. "We can't let him win. Not like this. It's better to fight."**

**"I know." X nodded, turning his own glare to the horrible doctor. "If he's killed so many by now, I don't think anything will get him to stop!"**

**Zero's confidence strengthened him, and he too faced the doctor, saber ready. "Besides us, you mean."**

**"Let's go!"**

**They both dashed forward, only to watch as Omega teleported away. **

**"Ha ha, not now Hunters!" Dr. Weil squealed with terrifying delight as he lifted himself high up to the rafters. "You need time to watch as I bring about the war that **_**you**_** allowed! There is no turning back now! See you later, Hunters! Well, if you survive the reploid attack! Aahahahaahahaaha!"**

**Even before he was done, Zero and X could hear the busters and the banging against the outer walls. Shadows appeared at the windows as more and more reploids gathered, streaming in toward the two heroes. With horror X recognised the rest of their unit. These robots had been the ones that enabled them to come into the factory in the first place, and now protection was the furthest thing on their minds. Somewhere in all of this, Weil disappeared, but the pair were too busy fighting for their lives to notice.**

**"Zero, did we make the right decision?" X's voice cracked as he fired off a charged shot into former friends.**

**"We made the only decision." Zero swung at a reploid that was getting too close to X. "We've got to get out of here, X. We can't win overwhelmed like this."**

**"Right. I'll signal all human military organizations that I can...if it's not too late..."**

\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- And this is part two of what would have turned out to be a far too long update for one chapter alone. I am so dang surprised that it ran this many words, but I won't make it too long between updates, so expect the third and last part of my 4th wall smashing within a few days. I hope you enjoy the insanity, because there is a point to it.

Maverick time!

Arktemis

=====Slayer Bateau

**"Yeeeeaarrggh! Fire!"**

Slayer is a sailor Maverick, capable of switching from humanish to boatish at will. Unlike other Mavericks, you fight him in a long stretch of ocean, not in one room. He is a primarily wooden Maverick, making his defenses lower than others. However, his offensive is not fun at all. In human form, he shoots a huge rifle at you, one big ammo and then a spread of smaller bullets. In boat form, he fires cannonballs, throws anchors, and leaves driftwood in his wake so that the boat that you fight him on is damaged and you fall into the bottomless ocean below. The player that beats him gets Slayer cannon, a ridiculous weapon that causes major damage. It sinks swimming Mavericks and breaks walls.

This one just got a life of its own. Ark is like boat, which is bateau in french. Slayer is a synonym of hunter, and hunting is one of the things Artemis was goddess over in Roman mythology.

Luce-Loup-Garou

=====Paradox Gormander

**"Cackle and crackle!"**

Nobody likes this Maverick. Maybe they would if they got to know him, but everyone is afraid of him. This wolf or hyena (nobody really knows) Maverick is essentially one giant dog skull, complete with hanging jaw, and a massive skeleton body overflowing with electricity. Paradox has no legs, but floats in the air. He likes to say strange things that may or may not be relevant to the future or wisdom in general. Despite being alone, Paradox is generally too nuts to be lonely. Paradox attacks with electrical beams, electrical sparks, and by simply swallowing you whole. The player that beats him gets the Gorm Bone, an item that can be used as both a sword and an electrical whip.

I wanted to do something different, but basically every word in this favoriter's name means "wolf". So I went with a flying electrical dog monster thing. Gormandize means to gorge oneself. There's some sort of mathematical principle that has to do with "luce" so axiom came from there, and an antonym of that is paradox.


	15. It Turns to Winter, Part 2

"Do you need a breather, Roll?" GrimMoody asked as the vision screen faded out once more. "You look sick."

Roll did indeed look sick. She felt like all of her circuits were overheating, and she wanted to sit down.

"I...I thought you weren't going to show me any of the war stuff..."

"Uh, sorry. Well, trust me, that's...okay, never mind, it's the second worst you'll see." Moody admitted. "But you're going to have to see more. Only a bit more, I promise. This is the fate of the world, and you must see it. This is the task for you, Roll."

"Task?" Roll said weakly. She didn't want a task. She wanted all of this to be over.

"Yes, a task. A job. One of prerequsites of this job is that you learn about what happened to your friends. All will be explained, but for now, listen. The Cyber Elf War went on a total of four years, doing all the harm that I told you about. There's no real need to show you too much of it. The exact details escape me, but what I do know of this war is that at one point X and Zero managed to separate the Dark Elf from Omega. Using the Dark Elf, they took control of some of the enemy reploids and made them fight against Omega."

Images flashed across the screen of these events, but Roll tried her best not to look at them. She buried her head in her hands. GrimMoody only came closer, making sure that Roll could hear everything that she was saying.

"They didn't know how to undo what had been done to the Dark Elf." the author said. "So they did all that they could do, which was to trap her away from everything. The same doctor that invented the Mother Elf managed to invent a containment device, but it would only work if with a complex multiprocessor. Having seen sacrifice first hand, X knew that he would be safe if he donated his CPU and body to this cause."

Roll snatched her head upwards with horror and denial all over her face. "Please...please no..."

"Really, it's fine." Moody said, looking at her as if it was strange to be worried about someone donating their body. "He just became a cyber elf. The process was even simpler for him than it was for Bass. He's a very complex program. He was fine. Just a little different, that's all."

"Well..." the robot sniffed. "I mean...I don't like it."

"Nobody did. This action, however, stopped the war and Dr. Weil. For some reason way beyond me, instead of killing Dr. Weil and Omega, they chose to banish them to space. It probably had something to do with Dr. Weil's armorsuit. Thing was dang near indestructible, and they had to get rid of him somehow."

"But what happened after that?" Roll asked. "What happened to the world? Please tell me Zero survived!"

"He did survive..." Moody winced as she answered this question, and she shuffled her feet uncomfortably. "But things weren't good for him. It was hard to see the world in the condition it was, and you know how he felt about the Maverick Wars in the first place..."

The screen started showing more of its horrible images.

**"I can't do this, X!" Zero slammed his hands against the wall's remains, the first floor the only part left of the innocent thing. "Bass. BASS! I hate him! Why did he do this? I don't want this power core! I don't want any of this! Bastard!"**

**X floated in the air, glowing. He wished he could put his hand on his friend's shoulder, but there was no point anymore. He was now an illuminescent cyber elf, a form that Zero disdained most of all. He could see it in Zero's eyes, without Zero having to say anything.**

**"Zero, it's really not so bad being an elf." X said, trying to be comforting. **

**"There aren't that many reploids who got to even become elves." Zero hissed. "Look around you, X! We're in the city that used to be Arcadia! Now it's a scrapheap surrounded by a desert! There aren't any humans that are going to come and fix this, and even less reploids! There's nobody! Everyone is just huddling together in the few cities still standing and waiting for something to happen! When does this end, X? When is that Utopia supposed to be made, again?"**

**In a second, Zero's saber was out, and he slashed an old public mailbox and parking meter through. X winced, backing away. **

**"I won't help anyone for you to get angry like this!" said X. "Please stop!"**

**"What's wrong? So much has been damaged and torn down. A little more destruction won't hurt!"**

**Zero swung his saber relentlessly, taking out bricks and smashed cars like nobody's business. Finally coming to target an old military truck, it's entire front hood long since blown away, Zero slammed his sword against the thing again and again, ripping holes through the sides and tearing at the old skeletons. Those bones were all that remained of the soldiers inside. The sight of them enraged Zero even more.**

**"Zero, please-"**

**"I DID THIS!" Zero screamed, and his voice echoed across the dust and ashes cityscape. "I'm the one who's guilty! I caused the Maverick virus and I am Omega! I killed them all, because I am evil!"**

**He flung his sword away and collapsed to a tight crouch, weeping. He covered his head as if ducking from all the nonexistent attacks that his scream had generated against him. He rocked back and forth, calling out the names of all the friends he had lost. X wanted to weep also, but this was difficult for an elf. He neared his friend, trying to let his peaceful blue glow assure Zero that he had not lost everything; he hadn't lost this friendship.**

**"You can't do this, Zero." his voice was very gentle. "Not now. We need you to be strong."  
**

**"Strong? I never was strong. Not in my entire existence." Zero hissed, shaking. "I can't do this...I want to die..."**

**"Please don't say that, Zero. You've survived so much...you can survive this too."**

**The obvious pain that X felt touched Zero. He lifted his head, looking with tired eyes at his elf friend. Zero felt a stab of pity for X. As bad as things had been for him, X had lost just as much as he had. Only, these things were not the fault of X. Zero sank even further into his depression. He had done this to X, his best friend in the world. **

**"I'm sorry..." Zero said, lowering his eyes again. "X...I'm so sorry..."**

**"Don't think about it anymore, Zero." X whispered. "Things can only get better from here. We'll fix this. You'll see."**

The scene change at this point, and the wretched city swirled around, becoming instead an empty wasteland.

**Zero yanked at the cords, far out of patience. Finally the electric cords tugged out from behind a rock, and Zero plugged them into a cylindrical capsule, one that from the outside had the appearance of a dead tree. He worked more quickly. This was something he had to hurry and do. It wouldn't work if X found him. Then he might not be able to go through with it.**

**Zero didn't want to do this; it wasn't his first choice. But he typed his proper codes into the computer panel inside anyway. If everything went right, then the computer would be able to effectively cut him off from the rest of the world all while using low amounts of power. That way the seal would last longer. What Zero intended to do after that, he wasn't so sure. He just wanted to be gone and know nothing anymore. He didn't want to see the earth and what had happened to it.**

**His first choice wasn't going to work, he found out quickly. Though everyone called Zero a reploid, he wasn't much of one. He was still a first generation robot. The most advanced first generation there was on the earth, but still an oldstyle nonetheless. One of the things that typified the oldstyle bots was their programming that prevented them from harming themselves. Zero considered tricking his AI using the trash compactor trick, but in the end even this was too much. Not that his programming stopped him this time. It was X. X had lost his body, but he hadn't lost his mind. Zero couldn't harm himself in that way and thus hurt X. That was just not possible. It was bad enough that he was leaving his friend. Doing so permanently would be far too cruel.**

_**I'm doing what I have to do.**_** Zero repeated to himself. **_**I can't do this anymore...I can't pretend to be a hero any longer...**_

**That was why Zero was sealing himself away again. He wanted everything to go away. There would be no more fighting, no more friendship, and no more devastation. Zero hoped only for nothingness; hoping anything better than that seemed frivilous and a waste of time. He would never be happy, so settling into silence was his only way out. It was Nirvana, nonexistence. It was Hell.**

**Zero didn't bother looking up at the sky or in the distance before he initiated the final procedures. He knew what both looked like: flat, dull, and dead. His mind might not let him commit suicide, but he could at the very least delete his memories by tricking his mind into a defrag. Zero wasn't sure how effective this would be, but the more he forgot, the easier it would be if something happened to his containment. **

**There was so much he wanted to remember. Axl had been a true friend - oh, wait, he had been responsible for not only killing Axl's friends but his creator. X was his best friend...hold on, not really. X's life had been filled with nothing but suffering ever since Zero had shown up and made Sigma their prime enemy. He didn't dare think of Iris at all. The navigators had been wonderful, but all they got was doom for their trust in him. **

_**Alia was right after all. **_**he mused coldly. **_**I really should have been destroyed.**_

**Zero stopped for a moment. He wondered if there had been any time in his life when he truly had been happy. The only thing that came to mind was his first adventures with X and the Maverick Hunters, before he had known anything about his horrible origins. How could that be happy? Sigma was still there, poisonous and ready to bring death to many over so many years. It wasn't enough that Sigma had finally died. It wasn't near enough. Zero wished that he could have made Sigma suffer as much as he had. **

**The robot pushed a button, and several mechanical arms lowered down to hook into his back. This would be the end for him. As soon as he pushed the next and final button, then the containment field would go up, and he would have the appearance of just another reploid casualty, dead and useless. **

_**It's what I deserve...**_

**Zero pushed the button.**

**"Zero, no!"**

**Zero swung his head up, looking for the last time at X. He wished X hadn't come. This was hard enough already. Doing the best he could to smile, he just waved at X, who could do nothing but float outside the containment field.**

**"I'm sorry, X. I can't do this anymore." Zero said, trembling and wishing so much that he had the strength to not do this. "I can't live with what I've done."**

**"Zero...I need you...I can't do this by myself..." X said, his ambient voice quivering. "You're too good for this..."**

**"It's the only way." Zero glanced at the computer. He didn't have long before the defrag started. "You need to be able to make the world better, X, and I've only been holding you back. I've ruined things since the very beginning, X. I can't ruin the world anymore. I'm trusting you to build that Utopia now, okay? Make it a good one."**

**X understood. he didn't want to, but he did nonetheless. He nodded, his voice trying to regain its strength. "I will."**

**"Goodbye, X."**

The scene faded, and so too did the black vision screen. Roll found herself once again alone with GrimMoody, standing in the street. The author was now wearing a little pink snow hat. It was actually very cute, but Roll didn't notice this. Her eyes were hard, and all she could feel for Moody was a cold hate. GrimMoody tugged the sleeves of her coat over her hands as she spoke.

"I don't have any more to show you, chronologically anyway." she said. "There's a bit more to tell. So, the Cyber Elf War ends when X and Zero destroy Omega. Zero seals himself away. I won't ask what you're thinking. You want to know if things really are going to get better in the future. After the war I suppose things settled down, though apparently there were still some Mavericks left to fight. I don't really know what the deal with that was, but I guess since the Mother Elf was the Dark Elf they couldn't use her to cure the Maverick Virus.

"But, about that time humans just got pissed off with reploids altogether. They created the city Neo Arcadia, basically a human's paradise. There were some reploids around for their guardian purposes, but in the end most reploids, Maverick or not, were just killed off. 'Retired' as they said. This city was led by a copy of X, one who was corrupted. He basically just believed in killing all reploids and whatnot. Dr. Ciel, who I told you about before, she reawakened the sealed Zero with a cyber elf to come fight for her."

"Does this war end badly?" Roll asked, her sweet eyes narrowing with doubt. "I don't want to hear about it if this turns out like the Cyber Elf War!"

"Don't interrupt me, chiquita. I ain't done. Zero didn't remember who he was, but he remembered enough to want to protect the reploids. Eh, a lot of nonsense happens, and they call this the Second Maverick War. The short of it is, Neo Arcadia ends up destroyed, X's body is destroyed and the Dark Elf is released. At about this time, the ship that carried the banished Omega and Dr. Weil returned. I said don't interrupt! Don't worry, Zero destroys Omega before it does anything, but the explosion created by Omega was powerful. The only reason Zero survived was because Cyber Elf X used his power to save him."

"X...does this mean..." Roll started to shake. "Does this mean he died?"

"Uh, well, it would mean that for any other cyber elf, but he doesn't." GrimMoody shrugged. "I don't know if he's more powerful or something, but he really just loses the ability to reappear to Zero. Somehow he still exists. I'm not sure how that works but yeah. Zero too...his existence becomes very strange as well. After fighting Dr. Weil in a falling space shuttle, he doesn't have the time to escape, and he burns in the atmostphere. However, this too doesn't seem to end him. His body is destroyed, but later on Dr. Ciel turned both X, Zero, and some other reploids into these thingies called biometals.

"Ah, biometals. Them things changed everything. In the future, there are no longer any reploids. No robots at all, except like mechaniloids, I think. The law changed so that pure robots can't exist, and humans instead merged with them. That was supposed to be the treaty that ended the war, but heck, it just eliminates reploids entirely. X, Zero, and the other biometals merge with the human heroes to give them powers and fight baddies and whatnot. I don't know what bad guys they had to face then, but I bet you can guess the problem with merging people and reploids."

Roll did know this, though the horror of it was almost too much to say. "That means...humans...they can get the Maverick virus..."

"Exactly." GrimMoody seemed pleased that Roll figured it out on her own. "I don't know what happens after that. I mean, I think the good guys win. There's this brother and sister team that work together with the biometals to fight the baddies. They seem to do a good job with that. I don't really understand who they were fighting or why, but that's how it went."

"Wait, hold on..." Roll said. "When was this?"

"About a century after the second Maverick War."

"Okay...so..." Roll stuttered, her lips uncertain if they really wanted to ask what Roll had in mind. "What happened to me? You never said."

"Oh, yes, right."

GrimMoody stepped forward again, repeating the motion of tracing a rectangle in the air. The black screen appeared once more, and on it a scene appeared. It stung Roll's heart to see X, back in his body and operating. After hearing all this, it felt nostalgic. She almost forgot that he was still currently in his body, inspecting copy chip manufacturers out in Europe.

**X was watching the monitor, observing Maverick attacks. Now the whole world was Maverick, and they tore down the pillars of civilization. Arcadia was being torn down, and there had been no time for so many to escape...even Signas. Reploid skin wasn't designed to get dark circles under their eyes, but it certainly looked like X had spent several nights awake. This effect was even worse when he looked down at his sister. **

**Roll was sitting at a computer, fingering her buster arm. She couldn't escape the fighting either, and in the escape from Neo Arcadia her buster rounds joined in with X's and Bass'. For now she was holding her arm still for Bass, who was repairing some of the wires. The dark robot was silently grim, and every so often he interrupted his work to glance up at X, silently demanding something. This demand got a strange and also soundless reply from X; the heaviness in his eyes carried pain, but resolve as well. **

**Roll paid all of this little attention. She was trying her hardest not to focus on everything that was going on and remember that now she had to be strong. She couldn't remain behind any longer. The girl-bot promised herself that she was not just a housekeeper. She was more than that, she was a fighter, strong and unafraid. She wasn't going to think about hiding. For years she had been the great hero Proto Bot, and she could return to that now. **

**There would be nothing that would stop her from joining her brother on the battlefield. Not even the frightening memories of Alia's death protecting her. She wasn't going to be a frail thing to just be protected. Roll was afraid, that was definitely undeniable, but she wasn't going to let that fear stop her. Not when the world needed her. She felt for once to be a noble robot, and it made her feel warm on the inside. She was following in Mega Man's footsteps. Not a fighter by choice, but by necessity. Roll would do her duty.**

**"We can stop this!" Roll exclaimed with enthusiasm, sounding just like Mega Man. "I know we can!"**

**X smiled a smile that many a parent used when their young child showed them a scribbled picture or the mess they had made while trying to do something like a grown up. It reminded him so much of Axl when she spoke that way. It was the same for Bass, though his smile faded after only a moment of existense.**

**"It's time, X." he said.**

**X sighed, nodding. "I didn't want it to come to this..."**

**"What? What is it?"**

**X addressed his sister, wringing his hands nervously. "Roll, we at the Hunters always knew that someday there could be a threat to peace on this scale. The Omega...he's very powerful. If we don't get rid of him soon, then the world could face serious consequences. So we made a secret weapon in preparation for this day. We didn't want to use it before, but now we see no choice."**

**Roll pricked up her ears and eagerly drank in his words. "We can stop them, right?"**

**"Yeah." Bass nodded. "This thing, it's a giant mech. We want you to pilot it."**

**"Me?" Roll gasped, not sure if she was excited or not. "I'm not sure I can do that. I'm not trained to pilot anything but helicopters."**

**"It's not hard." X replied. "Besides, the defensive capabilities of this mech are simply amazing. You'll be able to help with the war, and you'll also be very safe. Worst come to worst you can even teleport out of the mech."**

**"Sounds great!" Roll forced on herself a cheer. She had no love for destruction, but of course they wanted her to be safe. "Where is it?"**

**"In the basement of this building." X pointed to the door. "Down in C-level. Go down to the capsule and plug the black cord into your neck. The computer system will take the capsule and load it into the mech. Once you're in the mech, we'll give you further instructions from there. Bass, you're done with that repair, right?"**

**"Yeah. I just have to close it up." **

**Bass screwed in the cover panel for the buster, letting Roll step down from the table. She brushed off her shirt, a little annoyed about the stains on it. **

_**Oh well, no one's going to notice it in a mech! ...Huh?**_

**The guy-bots seemed to be acting strange. X stared at her with nostalgic and almost doleful eyes, rather like a parent watching their child graduate. It always annoyed Roll that he was the younger sibling and yet still watching out for her. Bass' expression was for once not immediately easy to tell. It was frozen solid in a state of neutrality, with not one telltale facial feature out of place and giving her some clue of what was going on in his mind.**

**"What are you looking at me like that for?" Roll asked, going from one face to the other. "I'll be okay, won't I? Cheer up! Things will get better from here!"**

**Roll tightly hugged them each around the neck before heading obediently down to C-level. With the touch of a button, the heavy armored door began to lift.**

**"Hey Roll..." Bass said.**

**She turned back to him, curious.**

**"Remember...I always promised Rock to keep you safe."**

**"Yeah, I know." Roll wondered why he was bringing it up. "I'll see you guys later!"**

**As the doors shut behind Roll, locking into place, both of the remaining robots looked at one another, silent without even wordless conversation. After a moment, X returned to his computer.**

**"Alright, we still have Alpha unit." he said, firm and nothing but business. "If we can hold off Omega for another week to set up the deep station missles..."**

**The scene changed to Roll as she went down to C-level. There wasn't much in there other than old computers, piled up and dusty. A few curtain rods leaned against a side wall, making roll wonder when anyone bothered to decorate this facility. Roll ignored all of that. She guessed it must be distractions in case anyone discovered the capsule or the mech. **

**In the very rear of the room Roll found the capsule. It was a tall yellow cylinder with grey paneling. A small commputer console was beside it, looking comparatively new to all of the older computer junk lying around C-level. It was easy to guess which button opened it, and roll entered, letting the round panel slide back into place and close her in.**

**"Alright, a black cord...here we go!"**

**It wasn't hard to find. It just hung from the top of the capsule as if waiting for the robot that would plug in. Roll stuck it in her neck and activated the capsule, trying to relax as it started whirring to life. Without warning, Roll could feel her systems fluctuate. They were beginning to shut down.**

**"Wait, what? What's going on?"**

**Roll tried to pull at the black cord, but before she could a warning message popped up in her mind, threatening dangerous results if she pulled away the cord before the programs were finished loading. This message was followed up by another, a personal message. It was X.**

_**" - I'm sorry, Roll. - " **_**it said. **_**" - If you're getting this message, it means that the war has gotten too harsh and we have to take extra measures to keep you out of harm's way. I'm sorry for decieving you, but I can't let you die out there. For a long time I thought that I was the only Light-bot still operating, and when I found out that I was wrong, nothing could have made me happier. I'm not going to expose you to this kind of danger. I have to keep you safe. - "**_

**The mesage cut off, leaving Roll in a state of dizzyness. All she could feel as she heard these words was anger. Glitching, Roll banged on the walls of the capsule as hard as she could, only realizing now that there was no way to open it from the inside. She was trapped.**

**"X!" she screamed. "Please don't do this to me! I can't do this again! I can't stay behind while everyone else fights and dies! I can't do this again! X, let me out! I...I HATE YOU! I hate you for doing this to me! I...hate you...please..."**

**Roll fell to her knees, unable to continue her futile banging against the wall. Crying, her systems began shutting down, peacefully beginning her hibernation. She could only cry for a few seconds more, then nothing. She slumped against the wall of the capsule, completely gone.**

Roll stared at the screen long after it had disappeared from the air. For a moment, she didn't realize that GrimMoody was still speaking. It took a second for her eyes to notice this and stare back at the author, but her ears were still further behind.

"You survive the Elf Wars." GrimMoody said as the wind started blowing her scarf through the air. "Seeing how devastated the world had become, X was too forlorn to awake you right after the war ended, but overcome by the loss of Zero, he eventually changed his mind. You took it pretty hard to see what happened to the world, and what happened to X. You didn't speak much, for a while, but your human appearance did wonders for restoring human/reploid relations. You helped a lot of people, as many as you could."

""But...what about during the Second Maverick War?"

"X still didn't want you to fight in it. He wanted you to be safe, like always, and since your talents enabled you to help humanity, you were able to stay in Neo Arcadia. You basically stayed out of the wars, growing more bitter and more quiet as the years went by. You survived the destruction of Neo Arcadia, but once X had disappeared, you were alone. No one was ever able to tell you what happened to him, though you did hear about Zero when he died. Everyone did. There was nothing you could do about it, so you just...carried on. You tried, anyway. Once the laws enacting all reploids to merge with humans came into place, you managed to basically disguise yourself as a human, for a while. Your knowledge went a long way for helping half-machines and half humans, but there was no one to help you. You were old, outdated, and the only way you could be maintained was if someone knew you were only a robot and yet wouldn't tell on you. Eventually, you stopped looking. You die of data failure, more or less the robot version of natural causes."

"But...but..." Roll wanted desperately to hear something comforting, and she tried to overcome her increasing anxiety. "Please tell me...is there peace after this? Somehow, after all those wars and deaths...please tell me that there is peace!"

"I'm not really sure what happened after the whole biometals thing." GrimMoody said. "What I do know is, no, there was no peace. Humanity died out. The last human there was lived in space, but he died in the end just the same. After that some weird new people came to earth living there...I really don't know who they were, but they were going around searching for power sources...it was weird. That goes beyond what I know, other than that they were searching for power sources or something. The earth was like...I don't know, half flooded."

Roll was furious. She shook with anger, and her normally delicate face blazed red with enraged passion. This was too much.

"How dare you!" she screamed. "You, the 'author' do all this to us and you don't even know what you've done? You don't even know how hard it was for me every single time I had to watch as Rock left home going out to defeat Dr. Wily over and over again, and THIS happens? Poor X and Zero had to spend all those years trying to get rid of the Mavericks and the Mavericks are still around three centuries later? They DIED saving earth from Mavericks! And that did nothing! They _died _for nothing! Rock died for nothing! All Bass ever wanted was for someone to appreciate him and he dies like that? How can you do that to us when we gave everything we had to give for the sake of good? We don't deserve this!"

The robot collapsed to her knees, beginning a fresh wave of weeping. Or she wanted to. Instead this urge was interrupted by her act of kneeling; the attempt failed as she realized that something was in the way. The ground was covered in more than a foot of fresh snow, though Roll never saw it falling. She quickly stood up again, realizing that she wasn't wearing the same outfit she had been. She was in thick black pants and a tan coat, accented by a red scarf and mittens. Lifting her hand to her head, Roll tugged off a knit red cap, complete with a white poof on it.

GrimMoody's outfit suddenly made sense. If Roll had been human, she certainly would have needed all of those things. The landscape was still the same location, but the waves of wheat were gone, covered by the vast blanket of shimmering white. The trees too were decorated by the snow, their leaves gone and their bark black from the moisture of the snow.

"I always thought snow was peaceful." GrimMoody said as she adjusted her scarf more tightly around her neck. "We don't get that much of it where I live. The sky gets a nice grey that it only does when there's snow."

Roll was still suspicious as she wiped the snow off of her pants. Her questions, however, had not disappeared. She stared at GrimMoody, her face almost as frozen as the landscape around them. There wasn't any need for complex questions. Only one remained.

"Why?"

Grimm sighed. She looked more sad now then she had ever since she had appeared, and she seemed at a loss. Gearing herself for an explanation, GrimMoody let out a sigh.

"Roll...I'm not really 'the' author. I'm just 'a' author." she attempted to explain. "I'm not the one who imagined you. You, Dr. Light, Mega Man, Proto Man, Dr. Wily...all of you belong to a different author. He is the one that envisioned you in his mind and wrote you into existence. For reasons I cannot explain to you here, I am unable to tell you his name. Let's just call him...eh, Dr. K. Dr. K wrote parts of history for several centuries, starting with Mega Man's time as a hero. He wrote X's heroic years, and he skipped the Cyber Elf Wars to instead write about Zero's time as the hero. Dr. K also wrote about the merged human/reploid time, and also four thousand years from your original time where that new species was running about earth."

"Then...then he's the one that destroyed everyone?" Roll wanted to cry. "Why? If he created us, doesn't he like us?"

GrimMoody shrugged. "I don't really know why he did. Really Roll, all of you really are inferior beings, very manipulatible. Some of the tragedies I wrote myself, like Axl's and Bass' fates. Yours too. X's and Zero's, as well as the world's, were all decided by Dr. K, and everything I wrote was merely in line with what he had developed his universe to become. Heck, if outside influence hadn't stopped Dr. K, then he would have made it so the real X ruled Neo Arcadia instead of Copy X. He would have been the one trying to destroy the innocent reploids, having to be stopped by Zero. I didn't make the world, Roll. My purpose in what I wrote was to merely connect your original timeline with the century where X lived. Remember when Dr. Light first went to the hospital, right before you met Crystal Bot?"

"Yeah..." Roll's voice wavered as she tried to keep control of herself. It wasn't working that well. GrimMoody continued nonetheless.

"Well, that was when I took over. Crystal Bot herself is my creation; she and a few other characters don't exist in the same way that you do. I wrote what happened from that point in time until the end of the robot apocalypse, and I also wrote your return to life in the X series. Dr. K never explained your fate, or Mega Man's or anyone's from your time period. It's assumed that some big thing happened to kill everyone you knew. I merely put words to this sentiment. You never really appeared to X, nor Bass either. Your fates were indeterminable, and so were the fates of Alia, Axl, and the other navigators. I just thought I would fill in the blanks."

"Why are you telling me all of this?" The Light-bot managed to dig out some of the bitterness from the grief that had smothered it. "Why couldn't you just let me pretend to be happy until all of this happened?"

"Chick, what Dr. K did to you was wrong." GrimMoody's features expressed every bit of the sorry Roll felt. "I mean sure, looking at this period of time, there were good technological advances and wonderful people, but your fate had taken a turn down the wrong direction. Think back to your time. There was happiness there, and peace. The brilliance and fun of those days should not have left you. Think of all you have lived through. Isn't it all wrong? You pointed out that Bass isn't one to give up. You're right, that never should have happened. Proto Man too, he's the most stealthy robot there is, and yet he gets caught. Finally, your brother Mega Man. He is the honest, innocent belief that good should always win. And he died. X was supposed to be a better peacekeeper than Rock, but for him every victory was a loss, as the world was only the worse afterwards. What nonsense is this, y'know? It betrayed the soul of what this story was supposed to be. Sure, musing on dark things is interesting for a while, but nobody lives on that. The things that will last the longest, and are the most important, are the things that make people happy. Intruigue, danger, attraction...all these are trumped by one thing: joy."

Roll said nothing. She just shivered, but not from the cold. GrimMoody approached her, placing a hand on the frightened girl-bot's shoulder.

"I showed you all this because I am going to give you the chance to stop all of this from taking place."

Roll's eyes widened. "Don't...don't lie to me!"

GrimMoody's smile was as dark as her name, and twice as ironic. "I'm not lying to you. Well, sort of. It's more complex then I can explain. See, in one sense I can do nothing for you. The reploids and humans will all die out, and nothing I write will ever be able to erase that fact. In yet another sense, I can wipe all of that away and leave for you a clean future, one untainted by the dark musings of Dr. K. There will never be any Maverick Wars. While computer errors will always happen, there will be no Maverick Virus. You and Rock will live normal lives, and everything you fight for will come to pass. I don't promise Utopia, because, well, everybody's got this sin nature thing going on, but there will be peace."

"I don't understand any of this." Roll said slowly. "But...if you really can change the future, please...please make everything better!"

"That's where you come in." GrimMoody seemed proud of Roll. "I will only do so much, because if I just went 'poof' and everything was fine, this wouldn't affect anything in the long run. You have to decide that you're going to keep the world peaceful and do what is right. You and everyone alive, that is. You've got to convince people that doing the right thing and honoring each other is more fun and more sustaining than evil or selfish gain. Do you think you can do that?"

"Yes! Yes I can! Er...well, I'll try anyway!" Roll clasped her hands together, with every inch of herself poised to beg GrimMoody. "Please, I'll do whatever it takes!"

GrimMoody nodded. "Very well then. You're going to have to come with me. This will require some writer magic, but it can be done."

With that, Roll began to trudge her way through the snowdrift, coming up to where GrimMoody stood. For her part, Moody lifted her hand once more, as high as she could reach, and she traced a large circle in the air. She bent down to trace the circle's lower part, then came around again to meet her beginning place at the top. This circle was wide, and the colors within began to swirl, pulsing with new light. This shimmering anomaly was large enough for the both of them to walk through, and Roll began to feel her fear creep back up.

"What is that?"

"It's a portal. It's the way back to your home at the lab a century ago."

Roll backed away a bit, shuddering. "This isn't some kind of trick, is it?"

"What do I gain by tricking you? Haven't you already seen what I'm capable of? Besides, I'm going through this portal too. Anything it does to you it's going to do to me. If you really want things to change...let's go."

Roll stared at the swirling thing, feeling her heart swirl just about the same way. She turned back, taking in one last time the outskirts of Arcadia. This wasn't what she wanted. Try as they might, X and her friends had not been able to make her feel truly at home in this place. This wasn't their fault. The very environment shunned her, as if she did not belong there. Roll shook, pulling her coat about her as if she needed the warmth.

"No one really belongs here, Roll." GrimMoody said softly. "This future should never have been."

"Then I've got to do something about it!" Roll stiffened herself up, trying to gather what scattered bravery lived in her mind. "Let's go!"

She stepped through the portal. GrimMoody watched her go, but she lingered another moment. She too faced the cold of the now snowy Arcadia. Moody did not stare at it, but happily grinned at the fields of snow. She placed her hands side by side, palms upward. As she lifted them the sun sank down into the sky, and a full moon appeared, larger and more close to the earth than it ever had been before. Its light shone down on the snow, making it glitter and glisten. Overall, the scene looked like the end of an adventure story, one that was drawing to a close. Moody seemed proud of the work, and she nodded firmly. Lifting her left hand to her lips, she blew outwards with a hasty puff. Like a wave of ash flying through the air, the scene blew away, leaving only nothingness behind. Once the author stepped through the portal, it disappeared.

That was a world that no longer existed.

"GrimMoody," Roll asked. "Where is this place?"

It was a good question. Their surroundings were completely confusing. It was a lot like the portal, with colors, shapes, and objects swirling around. These swirlings, however, were much slower than the portal's, so the place had an overall less dizzying effect. Roll was very thankful for that. They seemed to be walking on some sort of chainmail platform, one that didn't appear to be held up by anything. Aside from that, there was nothing in the area that seemed at all stable. Faces and people that Roll had known flashed across the room, as well as several unfamiliar ones. It confused and dazzled her, and she found herself staring at it and waiting to see what appeared next.

"This is the inbetween." The author replied. "It is the world that exists only because I cause it to, my little tunnel between my muse and your worlds. All that I imagine starts here as an idea or an object, to be deposited in your world at the time in which I call it. It is a place inhabited only by my imagination."

"Your imagination isn't very complicated." Roll noted as she looked around. "I mean, other than scenes, there's nothing but this walkway, and it's only going in one direction."

"This part isn't formed." GrimMoody replied, a little insulted. "It's made of remnants that I did not include in your adventures for whatever reason. Besides, this is a walkway between worlds, not my imagination itself."

GrimMoody started to walk down the metal pathway, and it took Roll a moment to notice this. It took her a moment to pull her eyes away from a flashing scene of her home laboratory, and she had to hurry a little to catch up.

"What do you mean by remnants?"

"Well, there's things that didn't happen." GrimMoody answered casually. "Then there's things that did happen, and I just didn't mention. Or there's things that couldn't happen, or alternatives to events that occurred."

"Oh, so it's sort of like deleted scenes?"

Grimm seemed proud that the housekeeper-bot understood so quickly. She chirpily grinned. "Good, that's exactly what they are."

\\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- This right here is what I had planned from the very beginning. All the stuff I wrote even as far back as Okkusenman has been leading up to this moment. And so, that it is the end of Afterlife. Stay tuned for a bit, and you shall see what happens next!

- You know, I'm sort of convinced that there wasn't any need for X to seal off the Dark Elf for so long. I mean, when the Dark Elf gets free in the Zero series, all it does is just turn Elpizo into a cyber elf and then wander off. If Omega hadn't shown up again, then the Dark Elf would have just wandered around like it was doing between Zero 2 and Zero 3. I like to think that the Dark Elf alone is pretty different from the Dark Elf merged with Omega. Omega is clearly in charge when they merge. I dunno.

Well, the logic of the Zero series was a pretty huge failure. I mean, in Zero 1 there was no actual need to fight Copy X. Zero could have just negotiated some sort of peace treaty where they stop fighting until Ciel made the energy source. Defeating Copy X didn't stop the conflict, and it in fact left the humans more vulnerable to Dr. Weil later on. In Zero 2, it's very strange that Ciel would hire a ridiculously militant Elpizo to lead the Resistance when she was so close to creating her energy source. If she wanted peace, that was hardly the way to go. This guy clearly wanted to attack Neo Arcadia from the get go.

In Zero 3, we learn that Dr. Weil and Omega were banished to space. Why weren't they just killed outright? That alone would have stopped a lot of trouble. I know Weil was in this mostly indestructible suit, but apparently other people had been the ones to force that on him, not his own choice. Those peeps are stupid. If you see a megalomaniac, shoot him in the face! That's one of the first rules of liberty. And in the fourth game, if Zero had blown up the Ragnorak space station directly after defeating Craft, then he would have stopped Weil from destroying Neo Arcadia and himself from dying. Come on, people! Logic!

- People have accused me of only understanding and/or liking Mega Man classic, but I do like others. I've seen playthroughs of all the X games as well as the Zero ones, and I really like what the X series did with the gameplay abilities. Out of the three series I'm familiar with, I think X has the most complex and intruiging gameplay dynamics. It was kind of stupid that Sigma kept showing up over and over again, but this didn't hurt the games too much as far as being fun went. The plot, however, did and was too dang emo, but y'know. I actually really like the Zero series for not having the same end boss in every game, and the cyber elf thing was a neat gimmick. This was a good, complex turn, and if the plot hadn't been the most emo bullcrap ever, then it would have been the best plot. They put really good effort into making it a interesting and well written story in the entertainment sense. In one sense I still hate the plot, but it pulls you in nonetheless. It's like a pop song: stupid, but so catchy you end up thinking about it and getting into it at random moments throughout the day.

Mavericks! Aw, just one...

Magestikus

=====Imperial Alchemist

**"I'll change you into something better."**

Imperial is one of the reploids made with a faulty copy chip, meaning he's got Sigma's data in him. He's a humanoid, and he always wears deep purple robes like a king. He especially enjoys turning people into Mavericks. His attacks include throwing acid, turning the player to stone, and strange electrical beams that weaken your attack power. The player that beats him gets the Alchemy Wand, which enables the player to turn enemies into stone. This can serve as shielding or as a platform to get to other areas.

The name was easy here. Imperial came from "magestic", and alchemy came from "magic" - I got that from the "mage" that is the first part of his name.


	16. Bonus Features

GrimMoody once again stood upon her stage, dressed still in her thick coat with her pink hat and scarf. She twirled around for no reason other than she could, and she jumped for joy, all while humming a tune that sounded like an off-key rendition of a daytime TV show theme.

"Hey y'all, and welcome to Bonus Features!" GrimMoody said. "It's time for another round of deleted scenes to show off to everybody! And yeesh, do I have a bunch! This is definitely the hardest of my stories to write! But first, why don't we get some guests on this show? Starting with, the crazy, the amazing, the one and only...Sigma!"

Out on the stage walked Sigma, the tall, bald reploid that fought X and Zero eight times. He was in his original form instead of one of his later crazier ones, so he was able to sit down in one of the red chairs and swing one leg over the other.

"Hello, pitiful humans." Sigma said with indifference. "It is I, the harbringer of your doom. Grimm here won't let me attack you, so you can rest easy for the moment."

"Yeah, yeah. You're just lucky I brought you back from the dead." the author said, sitting down in one of her red chairs. "So, Sigma, have you been keeping up with my story so far?"

"As for the first trilogy, sort of." Sigma frowned. "As for your 'X series' nonsense, yes I have. So, why exactly was I not included in this story?"

"I couldn't put you in. According to the theory I go by, you died for good in X8, and this story happens afterwards. Besides, thematically, your presense was irrelevant."

This did not please the evil overlord of reploids. He jumped out of his chair, throwing a fist in Grimm's direction. "Curse you! How can you say this? I am Sigma!"

"You sound like Invader Zim when you talk like that." Moody scoffed. "Sit down. Sheesh. This is exactly why you're not my favorite villain. Think about it. It made sense for Wily to come back after every classic game, because he was all arrogant and you couldn't get him to chill out for nothing, but why the crap did you come back? You were killed seven times before you finally were done, and that's not counting your alternate forms. Lame! I mean, you might come back like once or twice and it would be alright, but come on, you're dead! There's no reason for you to come back. You're lucky I even let you have this interview."

Sigma, pouting, went back to his chair. "I am invincible! Can't you just understand that? The only reason I did die in the end was because I willingly gave up my data to my children, so that the virus would spread even further!"

GrimMoody rolled her eyes. "You're still not the best. I mean, if I were to ask my reviewers who their favorite fictitious villain was in any fiction work, they wouldn't say you. You're a generic stage villain."

"I resent your disrespect! Besides, you can't have reader participation." Sigma scoffed. "I checked the guidelines."

"Please. That wouldn't actually affect my story any, that would just affect their reviews. It doesn't count. _Anyway_, let's get to the interview. For starters, go ahead and introduce yourself."

"Very well." Sigma sat up and faced the camera. "I am Sigma, the best creation of Dr. Cain. After several years of being a measly human slave, a computer program from Dr. Wily invaded my mind and showed me the light. I am a free reploid today because of Dr. Wily."

"You're a dead reploid today because of Dr. Wily."

"I will kill you if you don't stop that nonsense." Sigma warned. "You should be more careful how you speak to me. Besides, it's better being dead than serving you pathetic organics."

"Yeah...right...you did hear what happened last time a bunch of robots tried to kill me, yes?" Moody went on to the questions. "Okay, Sigma, what's your favorite color?"

"It used to be green." Sigma shrugged. "Now I don't care."

"Because you're dead."

Sigma rolled his eyes. "Will you shut up about the dead thing already?"

"Sorry. Anyway, who do you admire most?"

Sigma had to think about this one for a minute. "Well, I admire Dr. Wily for being so forward thinking. I'm quite impressed that a failed organic creature could realize how inferior he is and grant reploids, the true evolutionary next step, the power to make ourselves a nation of their own."

"Um, Sigma...you read the last chapter. Reploids never get their own country."

"It's the thought that counts."

"Oookay..." GrimMoody coughed. "Um, so how do you feel about the story? Anything you like about it? Dislike?"

"Let's see...I do like how Zero finds out the complete truth about himself." the evil reploid laughed heartily. "Ah, so he finally realizes his true mission against humanity! It must torture him to know that he was always meant to destroy those he loved! Buaahahaha! And poor, poor X, to think that Zero would have killed his brother! If only you made it so that Zero truly had! Ahaha! The grief would surely crush him!"

Sigma threw his fists into the air triumphantly.

"Yeesh. Do you have any clue how sick you sound when you obsess over X's and Zero's emotions?"

"I am a villain. We LIVE on such things. Anyway, I know you didn't make up this part, but I always loved the idea of someone taking Zero's body and making a proper weapon out of it. Omega is a wonderful creation. I always preferred that Zero make the change willingly - I do have my principles - but oh the delightful destruction! If Zero wasn't going to turn himself, then at least I get to see what would have been!"

GrimMoody allowed him to finish before turning to the camera. "Hey, y'all people that write stories, please make it so that your villain does not have a creepy obsession with your heroes. It might work sometimes, but for right now it's way too overdone. Thank you."

"Stop judging me!" Sigma folded his arms. "And in any case, I'm not finished. I have to tell you all of the things I hate about your pathetic story. First of all, I hate that you brought back that stupid Bass. He is a first draft, nothing compared to the real thing! It would have been better if you had actually killed him off, so that Zero and X could suffer crushing mental anguish and then the inferior fin-head would be gone for good! Even better to do the same with Roll! Double the anguish! Beautiful anguish!"

"Dude, you are like, creepier than Top Man writing poetry." Moody got an idea, and suddenly grinned. "Hey, which is your favorite, X or Zero?"

"Ah, how can I choose?" Sigma licked his lips. "That would be like selecting a favorite lung. X is so intelligent and has the most complex mind that exists, and yet Zero's secret powers make him devastating! If only I could combine the two, X's brain and Zero's body! I will say, however, that X edges out Zero slightly. With his mind, he has the potential to do anything! If I could have infected him with the virus, I would have."

"So how about Axl? Care about him at all?"

"Ugh, no." Sigma shuddered. "He is a fool! A simple, arrogant fool. X and Zero are methodical thinkers, but Axl rushes in like an idiot. He is simply incapable of understanding the true nature of those he calls 'Mavericks'. And he sort of looks like a cat. I never understood why that was. It's very awkward. I feel sorry for him. We robots have suffered much from the hands of humans."

"Yet another reason why Axl is my favorite."

"Why? That he looks like a cat or I don't like him?"

"Yes." Grimm sat up in her chair. "Oh hey, I actually had it in my head for a while that I was going to make Bass go through with the suicide. Wanna see the results of that? I mean, he doesn't stay dead, but it's got lots of angst. You don't mind Axl angst in the mix, do you?"

"Not at all. He so rarely has it." Sigma smiled, tapping his fingers together with glee. "Please show it, I want to see!"

"Okay, you creepy mofo."

GrimMoody stretched out her arm, and a remote appeared in her hand. She pushed a button, and the screen behind the stage lowered. She and Sigma turned around to face this screen and watch what would pass next.

"Ooh, swivel chairs."

"They really are the best."

**-Undetermined Chapter**

**The signal on the tracer had gone out, but Layer was still able to figure out where the signal ended. The Briggs City junkyard was where the coordinates broke off, and they could start the search from there. X, Zero, and Axl all teleported in. Zero initially wondered if he should really join them, but X had insisted on it. Zero was one of their strongest Hunters, and if they were going to stop his brother from causing damage, they needed to find him. That didn't mean Zero had to be happy about it.**

**Zero grimly spied out the junkyard. There seemed to be an unnatural amount of people at the junkyard that day, though Zero couldn't guess how many people actually worked at one. X gave him a worried glance, but said nothing. **

**"What would Bass do here?" Axl asked as he followed the other two to the junkyard's entrance. "It's just a junkyard."**

**"It's possible that this place used to be something long ago in the past." Zero replied. "Or maybe he was just planning on running away without caring where."**

**"The trouble is, there's nothing for him in this time period." X seemed concerned. "There's nowhere he could want to go or anyone he knows to trust."**

**"Strange place to make friends." Axl noted.**

**Zero got the sinking feeling that making friends was not Bass' aim. He would have suggested that Bass wanted to fight a Maverick to prove himself, only Bass hadn't exactly left the Hunters in the most prime condition. He was low on power, running on old museum parts, and missing his left arm. Zero hoped Forte wasn't crazy enough to fight in that condition.**

**"Excuse me," X said to a security reploid at the gate. "I'm looking for a robot and I have reason to believe he was here."**

**"Come on in, X." the guard said as he pushed the controls that would open the fence doors. "I think there was a strange robot here earlier. You'll want to talk to our director some. He can give you a description."**

**This was already turning out more optimistically than X had expected. "Thank you. Zero, you and Axl take a look around. I'll talk to the director to see what he knows."**

**"Alright." Zero nodded. "Let's go, Axl."**

**The blue bomber let his friends walk off, and he asked the security guard for directions. Once he knew where to go, finding the director was an easy task. The director was an older human known as Mensk Hardy, someone who had worked at the junkyard for years. He was a skinny man with white hair and a scruffy beard. His stained clothes looked perfectly fitting in a place that revolved around revitalizing or junking old machines.**

**"Hey there." Hardy said as he noticed X. "Can't say I was expecting to see a big namer like you here today."**

**"I wasn't expecting to be here. Any chance you've seen a black and gold robot with a finned helmet and no left arm?"**

**Hardy nodded. "Some of my boys saw a one-armed bot earlier today. I think we got some camera footage. Didn't see him but a couple of minutes, and he's been gone near fifteen minutes. Couldn't tell you more than that."**

**"Did you see him teleport?"**

**"No. Maybe the cameras picked it up. Come on to the office. "**

**Zero watched this conversation from a distance, eyeing X though he could hear nothing of the conversation. He hoped that somehow they would find Bass before he spread news of Zero's origins. Zero glanced around the junkyard as he walked past conveyer belts and reploids hauling old junk. None of them seemed worried about him. A few smiled, and others waved. Like always, Zero was the hero Maverick Hunter. Whatever Bass had done here, he hadn't told any of them that his "ugly sister" was the originator of the Maverick virus.**

**This should have comforted Zero, but instead he found it disturbing. His heart sank somehow, and he wasn't sure why. The pony-tailed Hunter looked up ahead. He had lost track of Axl. The younger reploid was in more of a rush than he was. As necessary as it was to stop Bass, Zero wasn't that eager to talk to him again. **

**"No! Someone stop the trash compactor! Zero, help me!"**

**Thinking instantly of Mavericks, Zero dashed in the direction of Axl's voice. Axl was at the far side of the junkyard, at the pit that housed the mass metal trash compactor. The young Hunter was pulling at several scraps of metal, Zero saw as he stepped onto the platform around the compactor. Before Zero even looked down he knew what had happened. His eyes lowered against his will, and he saw the black leg and white foot sticking out from the garbage. He turned around, shaking. He refused to look any longer.**

**"Axl, power's been cut to the compactor!" Zero could hear as X joined them on the compactor platform. "Did you...oh no..."**

**X's compassion at once wiped away all of his annoyance for the dark robot. He stepped into the mess, starting to tug at the bent and entrapping beams, iron sheets, and other miscellaneous metal. Even with both him and Axl on the job, the metal was proving too bent and too smashed to simply be pulled off.**

**"Who did this to him?" Axl cried, pulling uselessly at a beam. "I don't understand...there weren't any Maverick signals here!"**

**"You don't remember what I told you about first generation robots, do you?" X's voice was quiet. "One of their hidden subroutines keeps them from...harming themselves. This subroutine can be cheated in certain ways, such as if a robot deactivates on the edge of a trash compactor and lets themself fall in."**

**"No, he wouldn't do that! He can't!"**

**Axl's weeping voice was too much for Zero to bear. His trembling worsened. Axl might have forgotten about first generations' setbacks, but Zero hadn't. He knew Bass was attempting suicide. It was all his fault. As much as he despised Bass, he didn't want this to happen. He was guilty of another death, this time not only one of the old warriors that fought in the robot apocalypse, but his own brother.**

**Rage stirred up in Zero. He didn't know where it came from, and he didn't care. All he knew was that it was taking too long for them to get Bass out, and he was impatient. He wanted to hurry up and get Bass back to where he could repaired, the sooner the better. That way Zero wouldn't have to see the clear evidence of what his origin had doomed him to be.**

**Snapping out his saber, Zero angrily charged in, pushing Axl away. He aimed his saber with careful but fast cuts, freeing Bass' body from the crushing wall trap. That done, he shut off the saber and marched away. **

**"Zero." X said, following him. "You-"**

**"I'm going to go back to HQ and tell them to send a shuttle." Zero's voice was low and hushed, forced down by his attempt to bury his boiling over emotions. "You...I need you to put in the report for this one."**

**Without another word, Zero teleported out, not realizing how fearful he had left his friends.**

**-t-**

**Bass weakly opened his eyes. The first word out of his mouth was a swear. He didn't want to be able to open his eyes ever again, and here he was, conscious and in at least a semi-stable state. Bass didn't check his systems. He didn't care anymore. With only a half-hearted effort he surveyed his surroundings: he was on the single repair table of a small lab, one with no windows. There were some computers scattered here and there, none of which he paid attention to. His vision settled on the robot sitting at a chair beside the table.**

**Axl was doleful, and he lifted his drooping head from the table when he saw Forte waken. It was strange to see him when he wasn't smiling, and his features seemed more stiff than before. He was holding Bass' hand, and though Bass wanted to let go, he didn't have the heart to move his hand. Or at all. If he'd had his way then he wouldn't be able to move anything. **

**"Hey, Bass." **

**Axl's mellow greeting was heart-sickening, and the response was barely audible. **

**"Hey." **

**"They fixed your arm."**

**Bass gave a look at his left buster only to be polite. It was indeed reattached to his arm, and it looked pretty good. "I see."**

**Neither of them really knew what to say, and Bass was thankful when Axl stopped talking. It was awkward, to say the least. Bass was at least happy (sort of) that all the numbness he felt prevented him from feeling anything else. It was too hard to have emotions, especially now. Just in case something tried to work its way out, Bass turned his head away from the young Hunter. He couldn't look.**

**"Bass..." Axl said, holding on to his hand tighter. "Don't do that again."**

**"Why?" Bass muttered. He knew exactly what Axl was talking about. "It doesn't matter."**

**"How can you say that? You're important! You're a robot from an age long gone, and you fought in the robot apocalypse!"**

**That impressed Axl? Bass stared up at the ceiling, remembering. Those had been some of the worst years of his life...but really, what besides the five years he traveled the world wasn't the worst years of his life? **

**"That's right." he said, still focusing upwards with bitterness. "And I should have died then like everybody else."**

**"NO! Stop talking like that now!" Axl's volume startled Bass into actually paying him attention. "I don't want you to die! Do you know how long I've been looking for the source of my Copy Shot ability? For anything that has to do with my creation? My creator died because of Mavericks before I was even activated. She invented so many things, and she built a reploid named Casper...I never saw any of it. I don't even know what Casper looked like. And Red...I know you think Red Alert was just a bunch of Mavericks, but they were my friends, and now they're gone too! You're all I've got left..."**

**Axl couldn't look at Bass anymore. He soured, lowering his head. Bass let out a sigh as he observed the boy. He felt a little bad for Axl despite himself. But really, all Axl's argument did was remind Bass how much he had failed. He could have stopped all of this from happening, and he didn't.**

**"Look, kid," Bass said, trying not to let his bitterness take too much control of him. "You think I'm some hero or something, but let me tell you the truth: I'm not. I'm just a loser. I never saved anyone in the apocalypse. I never did anything, not once, not **_**ever**_**, that made a difference in the end. "**

**Bass was done talking. As bad as he felt for Axl, he felt worse for himself. He hadn't been anything much when he was the second most powerful robot in existence, and now that he was obsolete, he wasn't anything at all. There was nothing in the future for him to do. He didn't have any relevance, and he didn't understand why everyone just wouldn't let him die.**

_**Eh, X wouldn't do it. **_**Bass thought. **_**Stupid Light-bot can't let anyone rest in peace.**_

**"You saved Roll."**

**"What are you talking about?" Bass frowned at his "son". "How do you know about Roll? And no, I didn't!"**

**"X has memories of her on his CPU." Axl said. "And yes you did. A human found Roll's body when he was digging in his backyard. She looked pretty bad, so he went to the junkyard to get rid of her. She was in the same load as you in the compactor. If we hadn't been looking for you, then we never would have found her."**

**"Wait, she's here?" Bass at once sat up. "Where?"**

**"In the main repair lab. Alia's trying to fix her now."**

**Memories flooded back, chief among them was the promise that Bass had made to Mega Man. He said he would take care of her, and now was his chance. He immediately jumped up from the repair table, only to stumble forward and almost faceplant into the floor. Thankfully Axl caught his arm first, lifting him into a standing position.**

**"You need to wait. Douglas had to get you some new balancers from storage-"**

**"Screw that." Bass threw an arm over Axl's shoulder for support. "Come on, kid, let's get going."**

**Axl happily supported Bass as they hurried as fast as they could through the door and hallways that led to the main repair room. Axl couldn't help but grin a little, though he tried not to let Bass see. He was just happy that his dad was starting to regain his desire for life.**

**-t-**

**Zero went to Signas' office, just as ordered. An order was the only thing that could make him come out of his self-imposed solitude, and that just barely. He sat at Signas' desk sullenly and silently. He didn't want say anything. He wasn't equipped to be able to handle all the confusion now running though him.**

**Signas seemed aware of this, just as he seemed aware of everything. His leader was as patient as always, a small aura of calm. Nothing ever seemed to shake him, and all of the hard times Zero had faced he had faced with his Commander, ever since Signas had come into his authority. Zero just wished he would say something, but it was clearly apparent that the calm Signas was observing him. Some days Signas seemed more aware of the pain in his fighters than even the navigators.**

**"You didn't submit a report." Signas finally said. "You haven't even spoken with Layer. She's expressed worry for you."**

**"I'm sorry, did someone expect me to just be happy about this?" Zero's voice was more sinister than he intended it to be. "My own brother tried to kill himself because of me and I'm supposed to just go on as if it's any other day?"**

**It was a rude thing to say, and Zero felt bad even though he got no other reaction from Signas than a raised eyebrow. **

**"He's going to be fine, Zero."**

**"Well, good for him." Zero cut off his desire for more sarcasm. He had to at least try to be respectful. **

**Signas watched his most seasoned Hunter with doubt. So much had happened to Zero in the past couple of days that Signas found himself concerned. He had known for a long time that Zero was potentially dangerous, but always his desire to help Zero outweighed most safety issues. Signas never felt he needed to worry about Zero, not until now. Zero's most valuable asset was his self-control, and the loss of that was what bothered the Commander the most.**

**"I request permission to be dismantled." **

**Zero's statement was sudden, and was spoken as if Zero could read his mind. Signas was taken aback, and he frowned. Zero looked Signas straight in the eye, completely serious. As a former Maverick, Zero was legally the Maverick Hunter's property. He couldn't authorize his own destruction.**

**"Permission denied." Signas was firm. "I am not going to destroy my best Hunter. Nor would I want to be the one to explain this to X. You can't possibly want to do this to him."**

**Zero dropped his gaze to his firmly clenched hands. "I can't go on like this, knowing what I've done. It was hard enough before, but now it's worse. I've been responsible for a lot of deaths. Bass is the most stubborn robot ever built, and he wanted to end his life because of me."**

**"**_**He's **_**the most stubborn?" Signas asked. "Listen to me. You are responsible for nothing. I saw the reports of when you were reprogrammed to join the Hunters. I saw what was done to your mind. Complex failsafes were programmed in. Someone wanted you to have the intelligence of free will without the disobedience of free will. You couldn't have made a choice of your own before you were reprogrammed."**

**Zero said nothing. Signas always seemed to have the answers. **

**The Commander was silent for only a moment. "I'm taking you off duty temporarily. You have a lot to work through, and I can't have an emotionally compromised Hunter on missions."**

**"But sir-"**

**"Don't question me, Zero." Signas seemed to have perfected sounding both gentle and firm at the same time. "You need to face your troubles if you're ever going to recover from them. Take a week off and deal with him. This time next week I will re-evaluate your mental stability. Missions would only distract you from coming to terms with this."**

**-t-**

**Zero didn't know why he went back there. Well, actually he did know, but he also knew that the activity he had in mind was not something he felt himself capable of going through with. His friendship with X stood firmly in the way, and not even the enticing, crushing noise of the junkyard could take that away. He sat at the top of the hill, watching as the few workers still going finished their operations by the lights hanging on their buildings. Zero was glad that the darkness of the night hid him; the moon was not out that night. **

**So he sat on the hill, going through his thoughts one by one. Signas had said that he was supposed to deal with it, but he didn't know how. At some point in the week he had hoped to talk to Bass, but this was more or less a static wish, something that he grudgingly knew he should do rather than something he actually wanted to do. Part of him said that this would make him feel better, but he could hardly believe this when thinking about confronting his older "brother". Bass was abrasive and selfish. What good would come out of it? Bass couldn't accept him. **

**Zero understood this. He had spent the first half of the week just avoiding him. He tried to ask Layer about the current missions, but Signas had gotten to her first. As much as she wanted to, Layer was under orders to keep Zero out of the loop, no matter how much he might try to distract himself with the ongoing struggle against the Mavericks. Zero shuddered, holding tightly onto one arm. It wasn't about distraction. It was about penance.**

**"You're not really going to do that, are you?"**

**Zero snapped around to find that Bass was walking up behind him. The dark robot walked up to where Zero was, but politely sat down a few feet to the left. Once he was settled onto the grass, Bass looked back up at his brother, a little demure.**

**"Well?"**

**"No. I'm not." Zero responded quietly. "I couldn't do that to X."**

**"Oh."**

**Bass said nothing more. Zero was thankful that Bass had approached him, rather than the other way around. That, however, did not completely free the awkward tension between them. The pony-tailed Hunter let his vision slip over to the side and guess what exactly his brother was trying to do. While this tension doubtlessly existed, Bass didn't seem to show he was feeling it. He looked tired. No, that wasn't it. He was depressed.**

**"I'm sorry I ruined your life..."**

**"**_**You **_**ruined **_**my**_** life?" Bass snorted. "Don't feel any guilt about the past anymore. It's not your fault."**

**"How is that?" Zero muttered, bitterly tearing at the grass. "I started everything."**

**"That's like saying a bomb is responsible for blowing up." Bass hissed. "Don't argue with me. This is hard enough already. Look, you weren't responsible for this. I was..."**

**Zero's eyes widened as Bass went on. "I had five years to kill you, but I thought you were already dead. I could have destroyed you and stopped this war from ever happening. I failed. My fault."**

**"So you're saying everyone would be better off if I was dead?"**

**"Well, sorry, it's just the truth." Bass answered crabbily. "Eh, maybe if you were lucky Auto could fix you or something."**

**"It's alright." Zero managed a chuckle before his humor died away. "If being dead would help everyone...I think that would be fine. I don't mind."**

**"That's decent of you. Well, if you ever change your mind about killing yourself, make sure you get the job **_**done**_**." Bass grunted. "Coming back from something like that is humiliating."**

**Zero almost snickered, but he had to restrain himself. This was Bass' form of giving advice?**

**"I'll...take that into advisement." Zero said with humor. "And X did tell everyone that you were attacked by Mavericks."**

**"Pssht." Forte hissed, tossing a little rock down the hill. "I got beat up by a bunch of Mavericks and taken to the junkyard is what he said. Ugh, it's just a different kind of pathetic."**

**Zero himself preferred the made-up story, but he said nothing more about it. Instead he spoke in a lower tone, one that Bass could hardly hear over the machinery operating below. **

**"Don't do that again."**

**"Why does it matter to you?" Bass' voice dropped, and he descended into sullenness. "I don't deserve to live."**

**"Neither do I. I'm responsible for a lot of death, and I don't want one of those to be you."**

**Bass stared at Zero, still sullen and now more than a little grumpy. "You know I'm not your real brother right?"**

**"I don't care about that. I just...don't want you to die."**

**Zero wished that he had some way of explaining himself. Emotions had never been his strength. Maybe X knew what was going on inside his head. All X knew was that he wanted Bass to live. It could have been about guilt, "family" relation, or something else entirely. Zero just didn't know.**

**"Eh, I'm not planning on it any time soon." Bass answered, his voice as dark as the night. "I figure I'll stay awhile and see how Axl is. I hope to God that he can fight decently."**

**"Trust me, he can."**

"Notedly, this isn't actually a 'deleted' scene, as it wasn't deleted." The author pointed out. "I wrote it as I was doing the rest of the Bonus Features show. That's why it's not as edited as I would like."

"I liked that segment, somewhat." Sigma said. "Come on, why didn't you go with a story like that?"

"Eh," GrimMoody shrugged. "Well, now that I see it all laid out there, I don't like it. It's too emo, and it goes into a direction that I wasn't inspired to write more for. I could have gone a million directions with bringing Bass into the future, and for the purposes of my story I didn't need to freak out Zero so much. It puts to much of a strain on his character to have to know that Bass went that far because of him. So much of Zero's emotion is hidden and not even understood by him, and doing this, particularly the scene with Signas, would just be too much, too soon. But really, at the end of the day there was one thing that kept me from following through."

"What's that?"

"Bass. It's not in him to kill himself. That was just be so out of character for him. He's not the type of guy to just want to off himself, no matter how bad it gets. It's too lame for him. I'm sitting there, writing him as he's thinking about death, and I realized that I couldn't make him. Not everybody enjoys other people's turmoil like you do, creepo."

"Don't call me that!" Sigma hissed. "I am a great leader of reploids! I am the fighter of many wars, and I don't need a foul human like you mocking me."

"Sorry, sorry." GrimMoody straightened in her chair. "Oh hey, while we're at it, which Maverick in the story was your favorite?"

"Hm..." Signas tapped his chin. "That's a hard one. The first ones you created all died far too easily. Dire Minuet came very close to destroying X and Zero, so I'll say him."

"What about the reviewer Mavericks? Like any of those guys?"

"Those were much better!" Sigma grinned. "Slant Macrocosm was too complex, but I loved Ringer Phantasm and Raven Vanguard. Their powers were so...evil!"

"I really liked September Dusk Hound and Shade Crawler Sam." GrimMoody decided. "Their names were catchy to me, and if I were making X9, those two would definitely be Mavericks in the game. Guh, the problem I always had in the X series is that the Mavericks always came second place to whatever else was going on. I wish they would have given them more personality, like they did with Dynamo. It was similar in the Zero series, though they did do a good job when it came to end bosses. It shows a lot more concern for the plot that they weren't all the same guy for every game. I liked that."

"Says you." the evil reploid scolded. "You had so many reviewer Mavericks to choose from and you made your Maverick the leader of the others."

Moody winced. She recovered quickly, nervously giggling. "Why Sigma, I have not a clue what you're talking about. Ha...yeah. Let's do a deleted scene now-"

"Oh please." Sigma rolled his eyes. "Did you really think that no one would notice that according to your little method that 'Spectral Saturnine' sounds an awful lot like 'Grim Moody'?"

"Uh...uh...I admit nothing!"

"And you had her spouting that stupid 'Daughter of Sigma' line." he scowled. "Your gall makes me sick."

"Aw, come on, didn't you like her powers?"

"Pfft. You hack. Just put another deleted scene up, if it pleases you."

"Jerk." Moody scowled. "Anyway, here's a bunch of alternate versions of chapter 2, which I had so much dang trouble with. Seriously, up til this point I was doing pretty good, and this is where the story started getting hard."

"It was only chapter two..."

"Shut it, Sigma!"

**-From Chapter 2**

**"Hi! You must be really confused after being in that museum for so long!" The robot's nervousness only made him more awkward, and he shyly offered his hand, which Bass ignored until he pulled it away. "I'm Axl, and this is Alia. She's the one that fixed you. I can't believe you're really here, one of the legendary heroes of the past! Um...what are you looking at...?"**

**Bass was staring a bit intensely at Axl's features, and once it occurred to him where he had seen them before, his own face soured, and he cursed under his breath. It was Crystal Bot's face he was looking at. Sure, there were a few differences, but the wide, innocent eyes and bright features could only be hers. And since this Axl had called him "Dad"...Bass slammed his face into his hand with a loud smack, and another, muffled curse came from out between his fingers. **

**"Are you alright?" Alia asked.**

**"I'm **_**fine**_**." Bass pulled away his hand, his expression only worse for the unhappy revelation. "Just tell me what happened to me. How the crap did I end up in that stupid museum?"**

**"I just found that out myself!" Axl explained with an eagerness that only put off Bass further. "You and CMN-040 were found underground by my creator, Reiko Inafune, some decades ago when she was building her new lab near Giga City. She tried to keep it a secret, but enough people found out and there was trouble from the people she had bought the land from. They said that her discovery - they didn't know what it was exactly - rightfully belonged to them. Long story short, they won the legal battle. She pretended that you were the only one she found, and they sold you to the museum."**

**"Uh huh. And how much did I go for?"**

**"About a million zenny, if I remember right."**

**"Eh, not too bad..." .**

**"Are you kidding?" Alia folded her arms. "In this economy that's a rare fortune."**

**Bass grinned even bigger. "Now that's what I'm talking about. So why didn't they try to fix me?"**

**"I'll answer that one if you come over this way." **

**Alia gestured over to a separate area of the lab that was vaguely pentagon shaped, with one wall missing for entry. Each of the walls was a huge monitor showing different aspects of robotic specs. Bass recognised them as his own, and it disgusted him to see exactly how many of his parts had been replaced with cheap museum-grade parts. Crystal had done her best to force him to learn what he could about robot technology and his own design, so he could point out parts in the screen that he couldn't identify. They must have been something more modern.**

**Alia pointed to a small table in the middle of the room, where some old circuit boards were lying.**

**"What exactly is that?"**

**"That's your brain." Alia said. "Or what used to be. It's completely gone. At some point you must have been hit by an EMP. And not a normal one either, but a seriously extreme one. The only reason you survived is because of a EMP wave resistor in your body that contained an entire back up mind for you. However, due to your power issues, the second mind didn't activate until the power surge at the robot museum hit. Also, from what I'm able to guess, Dr. Inafune attempted to repair you, which is the only explanation for some of your more advanced parts. But I'm not sure about that armor. It doesn't make sense that Dr. Inafune would go through all the trouble to design you that ridiculously tough armor before handing you over to others."**

**His armor had been replaced? Bass looked down at his arms, and they seemed the same. There was a method to test it, so he hit his knuckles against his arm, listening to the resounding echo. Bass was relieved.**

**"No, this is my armor." **

**Alia started, and she wrinkled her nose in confusion. "No, it can't be. Only in the past five years has that type of micro-gravity armor plating become prevalent. And what you have on now really puts to shame all the other micro-gravity armors I've ever seen."**

**Bass wasn't sure if he wanted to roll his eyes or smile at that. "Or just **_**maybe**_** my technician designed and built this armor over the span of two years using both her team's space station and another technician that can control gravity. Sheesh."**

**"It became prevalent in five years?" Axl asked. "When exactly did that kind of technology get invented? 'Cause if it was seven years ago, then that makes sense. I mean, that was when they found you two, after all. I guess Dr. Inafune - "**

**"Ripped off my technician." Bass finished with a sneer. Remembering what Recluse Stradivarius had told him, he had to ask something. "So...what exactly happened to Crystal Bot?"**

**"Who?"**

**And Bass decided that he would go ahead and roll his eyes. "CMN-040."**

**"Oh!" Axl perked up once he knew that he'd be the best one to answer the question, but a moment later his excitement dissipated. "Well, I don't really know. She must have been destroyed when the lab was attacked...Red found me and let me join his team Red alert, so if she had been operational, he would have rescued her too."**

**"You were on Red Alert? Weren't they bad guys or something?"**

**"No! Well, not at first..." Axl admitted. "But then they were being manipulated. They...they had to be stopped..."**

**Bass could care less about Axl's emo ranting. "How tragic. Now who attacked the lab? What happened?"**

**"It was just Mavericks." Axl said uncertainly. "No one really knows what they wanted, or what they knew about Dr. Inafune. But Red Alert used to hunt Mavericks, so they went to stop the attack once they heard about it. Red told me that they didn't get there in time, and that there was this really colorful explosion, like something he had never seen before."**

**It was time to give up, Bass knew. He couldn't go any longer thinking that Crystal Bot could somehow be found and repaired. It was just ironic that Crystal would make the biggest, most appealing (in her mind) explosion possible, and yet not even be able to see it. He was really going to miss her upgrades. Something akin to sadness showed itself for a moment for Crystal Bot's own sake as well. He would miss his annoying little fangirl too. A little.**

_**And now I have this idiot here to remember her by...dang, that's creepy...**_** Bass frowned contemptibly, but Axl and Alia assumed that this had something to do with the question he had next. "So, is there anyone around named Roll or Auto? Or anyone from the past at all?"**

**The two newer robots glanced at each other, and Alia approached him, trying to break the news to him gently. "I'm afraid that you're the only one left. They didn't call it the robot apocalypse for nothing."**

**Bass burst out laughing. "Aw man, you mean **_**I'm**_** the only one that lived? Ha ha! Looks like I finally outdid Rock after all!"**

**Alia stepped back in confusion, only making Bass laugh a little harder. She glanced over at Axl, who could only shrugg. **

**"You were lucky, that's all. If you are who you say you are, that is." **

**Another of the strange robots approached Bass, this one definitely more serious. His armor was black, and resembled a military coat and hap arnold. Bass knew at once that he disliked this new arrival, and from the looks of it, this robot was also rather less than impressed by the dark robot.**

**"I had asked you to not activate him until I was here." he addressed Alia.**

**"He activated on his own." Alia explained. "We've just been explaining to him his situation."**

**"This is Signas, by the way." Axl said to Bass as the other two robots spoke. "He's the leader of the Maverick Hunters."**

**"Why isn't X the leader?"**

**"X is too good a fighter to be anywhere but where the action is!" **

**Axl's enthusiasm was beginning to annoy Bass. Or maybe that was just rollover annoyance from the fact that while Bass' main rival was gone, there was X to consider. It was bad enough having to catch up to modern standards, but having X at the other end in defiance of his superiority made him both anxious and encouraged. He planned on challenging X as soon as he was ready. Bass's metaphorical heart warmed at how well he had done against the "Mavericks", even in his state and level of technology. **

**Signas was looking at him, he noticed.**

**"Come on, Signas," Alia said. "X is convinced that he's the real thing."**

**"We can't risk taking the chance without being one hundred percent certain." Signas confirmed. "For all we know this is a Maverick who copied Bass' DNA data."**

**"Not possible!" Axl piped up. "You can't copy older style robots. They're just built too differently."**

**Bass wasn't the least bit interested in anything going on. Snagging a conveniently placed blank chip from the counter of Alia's lab, he put it in his neck and downloaded some information on it. **

**"Okay, here's the easy way to prove things." Bass handed the chip to Axl. "There's some of my memories of the past. There's Dr. Light, Rock, the old idiot robot masters and all that on there."**

**Axl was more than eager to see what was on it, and his face shone as if he was accepting some holy token. "Wow, thanks!"**

**"Axl, don't!" Signas exclaimed.**

**But the young hunter had already put the chip in his neck. Confused, he turned to his leader. "There's nothing wrong with the disc. He's telling the truth! There's really Dr. Light on here! And Mega Man Rock! I don't know what you're worried about, I mean, he wouldn't - AAUGH!"**

**Bass grinned deviously as Axl glitched and fell to the ground. Alia rushed over to him.**

**"That's what you get, kid." the dark robot commented with amusement. "Don't trust random robots. You should be like this guy." Bass abruptly swung his thumb in the direction of Signas. "He'll be alright...er...that was quick..."**

**It was Axl who made Bass pause. He got up only a second later, even chortling a bit. "I guess I learned my lesson...ow. Don't worry, I'm fine! It takes more than an old virus to get me!"**

**-t-**

**"Well, first of all I want to know if you are the real Bass." Signas then turned to Alia. "Find anything on his hard drive?"**

**"Little beyond the fact that his anti-hacking procedures are pretty dangerous." Alia's observation only made Bass grin. "But what I was able to see from his construction is that he's compliant with old style robotics design, probably second wave. Everything designwise considered, it's possible he's about the same age as X."**

**Signas eyed Bass as the latter casually listened and tried not to appear too amused. Alia started turned on the monitor and began to show certain details of Bass' design to the Hunter leader, who followed along carefully, but never let one eye stray from Bass for long. Forte, starting to get a little bored, turned to Axl, who pricked up once he noticed this. A package of empty discs was on a table near Bass, and he casually snagged one, observing it. It looked compatible with his mind, so he inserted it into his neck. Bass started downloading memory files onto it.**

**"Y'know," Bass started slowly. "You can't just hack into my head, but why don't you just ask? I can show you some memories of the past and that should prove that I'm who I say I am. Hey, Axl, come here."**

**Pulling the disc out of his neck, Bass held it out in Axl's direction, and the young Hunter's eyes widened in surprise.**

**"What's on it?"**

**"Eh, some memories of Crystal Bot, Rock, and some other people." **

**"This is awesome!" Axl exclaimed. "Thanks so much!"**

**"Axl, don't!" **

**Signas immediately ran to Axl, his arm stretched out to snatch the disc from the young Hunter's hands, but Axl had already inserted the disc and was uploading the information with excitement and a huge smile on his face. Signas, a little horrified, paused to see what would happen. He looked back at Bass with a solemn glare, but the dark robot only stared at his fingernails as if they needed attention.**

**"Gah!" Axl suddenly cried out as he glitched in pain. "Ow, that hurt! What was that?"**

**"Ha, that's what you get." Bass smirked. "Don't take discs from strangers, kid. You should be like this guy-" Bass shoved a thumb over at Signas. "-and actually be suspicious. You're just lucky I wasn't trying to kill you. But that program was supposed to shut you down..."**

**"Oh, that's my anti-virus program!" Axl happily announced. "My generation of robots is immune to a lot of different viruses! It'd take a lot more than a century old virus to take me down!"**

**Axl expectantly hoped that Bass would be impressed, but the dark robot just hmphed and turned away, rolling his eyes. **

**-t- **

**Bass stared at the young Hunter, his face sour with disgust. He looked uncertain.**

**"Are you a girl-bot or a guy-bot?"**

**Axl was horrified. "I'm a **_**guy**_**!"**

**"Really? With that voice?"**

**-t-**

**"I was built by a robot named Dr. Cain." Signas told Bass. "He died of natural causes some time ago."**

**"He's not related to Nikola Cain, is he?"**

**Signas paused. "...I don't know who that is."**

**"Eh, nevermind then."**

**"As I was saying, Cain was the one who restarted robotics, and with data from X, he was able to create similar robots to X, though not as powerful. So they are replicated androids - Reploids."**

"Interesting." Sigma stretched out a bit in his chair. "Were you intending to make it so that the Dr. Cain you created and the Dr. Cain of the Sigma series were related?"

"Sigma series?" GrimMoody was doubtful. "Don't you mean the X series?"

"Oh please. We both know that I had the far greater affect on the 21XX time period."

"Whatever. Yeah, at one point I was planning that they would be related." GrimMoody admitted. "Then I later decided to make it just a coincidence, and after a while I finally decided that they would be related again. However, it wasn't ever relevant to the plot. So yeah, the Dr. Cain of the X series is like the great grandson or something like that of Rodney Cain."

"Hehe, and Axl does look like a girl. Not as much as that Elpizo character, but yes." Sigma grinned. "So why did you get rid of that?"

"Hm, that was a reference to a long standing joke I was going to do if I decided to put Crystal Bot in this story." Grimm answered. "Eh, I briefly considered putting her in, but I couldn't do that. This series is way too dark for a happy and schizo chick like CB. She just had no place in it."

"See? Dark and sinister? Now can't you see that it should be called the Sigma series?"

"Mega Man: Sigma..." GrimMoody tried out the name. "Weird. Anyway, I had a couple of ideas for Crystal being in Afterlife, though I knew she wasn't going to work out. I wrote here one of them. Here's a scene of the 'Axl sounds like a girl' joke continuing."

**-Undetermined Chapter**

**"A lot changed since we were running around, Sonata." Bass said. "For example, me and you...we have a kid."**

**"WHAT?" the horrified crystal girl exclaimed. "That's gross! Robots don't have children!"**

**Unable to control himself, Bass burst out laughing. It was fun to torture someone else for once. As he bent over double with his merriment, Crystal Bot nodded sternly. **

**"I get it now." she said, throwing her hands on her hips. "You're teasing me. Don't joke like that, Forte. It's not funny."**

**"Turn around." Bass barely managed to say between laughs. **

**Crystal Bot turned to where he was pointing and she gasped. There was indeed a robot standing there, looking very much the combination of Crystal Bot and Bass. In particular his face looked like Sonata's.**

**"Hi, I'm Axl." The young Hunter waved, nervous.**

**The technician didn't know how to answer at first. She approached Axl with uncertainty. Finally, her face broke out in a smile.**

**"Aw...so cute! You look so much like Forte!" she gushed as she dashed forward and hugged hims. "Aw, I have a little girl!"**

**Bass only laughed harder as Axl's face fell. "Um...I'm a guy..."**

**Crystal looked up at him curiously. "Really? With that voice?"**

"Heh, that's funny." Sigma grinned. "But I'm very glad you killed off that shiny tart! What a horrid girl! To think of someone who could potentially cure my virus! It was so cheap of you to just make the virus disappear in the middle of Wily Ga Taosenai. We're talking about a program that liberates the reploids from the power of the humans! You can't just make it disappear!"

"How do you know it just disappeared?" GrimMoody winked. "What proof do you have? How do you know it was off of her systems? I submit that it was not."

"Oh really? Then how do you explain her acting normal for the rest of the story?"

"Thing is, chronologically the story didn't last that long after Crystal Bot was infected. A week at most. The virus is hard to detect, so nobody would have a clear idea of where to look for it on her minds. The virus scans that Bass did only eliminated the obvious symptoms. They didn't really have enough time to do anything more than that. Not before gettin' killed, anyway. Bass just assumed that she was fine."

"It had no affect on the plot." Sigma folded his arms, judgementally glaring at the author. "So what good did it do?"

"Eh, for you, none at all, sort of. This scene I never really had a place for in the story, but I consider it canon to my universe. I was basically planning to use it on this show. Enjoy."

**Crystal Bot opened her eyes. She didn't understand what she saw. It took her a minute to realize that she was lying down in a sort of rectangular chamber, one with glass at the top. There didn't appear to be any controls from within the container, so it obviously opened from the outside. **

**"Hello?" Crystal knocked on the glass. "Can somebody let me out?"**

**Nothing. Crystal didn't really expect anyone to answer. Anyone who had kidnapped her wouldn't be interested in letting her out. **

_**How do I know I was kidnapped? The last thing I remember is backing up my files right before I sent Forte-kun out to fight Algorhythm Man. If one of the Wily-bots got me, they would've killed me, not captured me...**_

**Only then did Crystal remember the virus that they had put on her system. She shuddered. Were they trying to get her back? Crystal Bot searched her mind, worried. She couldn't see the virus on it. Or at least she didn't think she could. **

**All that aside, the first order of business was to get out of her prison. She did a quick check of her systems, but if her captor had put escape failsafes on her, then they weren't detectible. She didn't have her weapon on hand, but it wasn't impossible to get out of the case anyway. After much pounding and kicking, the metal gave way and she pushed off the door. It swung around and slammed on the right side of the prison, clanging enough to set Crystal Bot's teeth on edge. **

_**Well that wasn't stealthy.**_

**Stealth didn't concern Crystal Bot right away. Sitting up, she found herself overwhelmed by all of the things around her. She knew that this place was some sort of laboratory, but she barely recognised it as such. All of the things she saw around her were so...different. The computers were smaller, but more in number, clustered on the wall in any possible space. Even more so, some of the beams that supported the ceiling were also decorated liberally with monitors and storage clusters. **

**Sonata found herself grinning at the sight of it all. Not only was it technology, but the collection of "on" lights that beamed out from all of them was very shiny. Crystal giggled at the sight of them.**

_**Aww, this is the coolest lab ever!**_

_**...Where's Forte-kun?**_

_**Er, what?**_

_**I wonder who owns this place.**_

_**Stop it, I can't think!**_

_**...But where's Forte-kun? Where's anybody?**_

**Crystal Bot groaned. She knew exactly what had happened, and she realized this three times. Her three brains had gone out of sync, and were each now acting independently. **

_**Guys, **_**her first mind told the others. **_**You gotta settle down. I'll operate the body and get us out of here.**_

_**...We're going to go find Forte, right? I just wanna find him!**_

_**Not without taking a look around this lab!**_** the third mind insisted. **_**There's so many goodies in here! We can upgrade Bass next time we see him.**_

_**...Not if we don't find him!**_

**The argument between her three minds took far longer than any of them wanted. Their altercation resulted in some very weird body movements as all three of them tried to operate the mechanical body and make it go in their desired direction. It was some time before the first mind could get the other two to calm down and focus. **

**"Okay..." Crystal wasn't sure which one of her minds was speaking out loud. "First of all we figure out where we are."**

**It wasn't a simple task. Finally making her way out of the storage container (it was not a computer or automated machine), Crystal looked around. There were computers, storage, and more computers. It was a maze of wires and plastic, one that Crystal was having a difficult time navigating. The chatter of her third mind going on and on about the various technologies provided colorful commentary, and her second mind listened in awe. Her first enjoyed it as well, but Number One was worried too much about escape to pay much attention.**

_**...Hey! **_**the second mind exclaimed. **_**Look at that! I think I see Forte-kun on that screen over there!**_

_**And there's a program-loading storage box under it.**_** Number 3 pointed out. **_**They've probably got Bass in there!**_

**All three of them agreed that they wanted to go and take a look, but even in agreement movement wasn't the easiest thing in the world. In their hurry they fought each other for control, forgetting that only minutes earlier they had decided to let Number 1 be the one to control the body. However, this computer screen wasn't too far away, and Crystal soon found herself standing at a raised platform with a tightly sealed lid, and it obviously was meant for holding a robot. Sonata figured that the container was large enough to hold Bass. In her haste, she quickly plugged into the computer, trying to find a way to force the container open.**

_**This is weird...I've never seen a computer like this. **_**Number 1 said. **

_**...It's really easy for me. **_**2 pointed out. **_**It's like they didn't know about normal robots and don't have anything in place to make me stop. Whee! This is fun!**_

_**Speak for yourself. **_**the third complained. **_**This is really hard for me. I can't get in that much at all.**_

_**Well, then let's let 2 do it. If she can get in, well, that's one of us.**_

_**Alright.**_

**With Number 2 free from opposition, it wasn't long before the lid's hydralics forced the lid to slide downwards, opening the container. Crystal Bot frowned. The robot inside wasn't Bass. It was some strange robot that she didn't recognise. He had armor that was such a dark blue that it almost appeared black. Red stripes ran down his arms, legs, and chest armor, and there were two energy crystals in his chest and head. The gentle face gave off an appearance of sleep, one with perfectly happy dreams. There was even a faint smile on his face. **

**Crystal Bot frowned. As cute as this robot was, he wasn't her Forte-kun. She looked up at the computer, and sure enough, a detailed physical scan of Bass was on the computer. Sonata sent her second mind back into the computer to hack further and see what she could discover, and sure enough more plans showed up on the screen. Her own schematics, for example. Crystal's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it.**

_**This is a combination of me and Forte.**_** If minds could gasp, Crystal's first one certainly would have. **_**He was built by Dr. Reiko Inafune.**_

_**...It's our son! **_**Two exclaimed. **_**His name is Axl!**_

_**Ooh, and he has this really nice ability where he can copy other robots. **_**Three proclaimed with pride. **_**I think I like this little fellow.**_

_**Um, guys? **_**One spoke back up. **_**Did you notice that this computer says it's the year 21XX?**_

**That silenced all three. Number 2 was hesitant to bring this up, but she had found a new bit of information in the computer.**

_**...It says in here that Forte-kun was sold to a robot museum. He's gonna be mad at us.**_

**Crystal Bot shuddered. To Bass there was no worse fate than to be stared at by half-hearted students while dust and rust together overran your body and everyone forgot who you really were in life. Sonata didn't share his fear of the place, but she didn't like the idea of having to explain to Bass why he was there.**

_**Let's get him out of there first and **_**then**_** activate him. **_**Three suggested.**

_**Definitely.**_

**But before they could do that, there was still the matter of getting out. Crystal Bot looked over Axl, watching him peacefully. He was complete, but the computer indicated that he was still uploading the information that would give him the knowledge he would need for life as a robot. It was history, language, math, social skills, and all of that in one downloadible package. Crystal decided against waking him. Loading was an important part of the robotics process, and she didn't want to interfere. **

**She reached down, stroking the side of his face. She spoke in a hushed manner, lovingly looking down at him. "I'm going to go get your dad now, Axl. After that, I'll come back and see you. Be a good 'bot for Dr. Inafune, okay?"**

**Leaning down, Sonata gently kissed his cheek. Gazing down once more at the peaceful machine, Crystal Bot pushed the appropriate buttons. The lid slid back into place, and the capsule beeped to signal that the lock on the seal was redone. For good measure, Crystal Bot added another line of security measures to the capsule's anti-interference protocol. **

_**...Let's go get Forte-kun now! We're in a basement laboratory, so we just have to hack the security systems on our way up and we'll be good. Yay!**_

_**That sounds good. **_**One agreed. **_**We'll just have to find our way out of his place and down to Giga City so we can find the robot museum Forte is at.**_

**Three wondered. **_**Hm, do you think that the curator of the museum will be angry at us for stealing Bass?**_

_**Ha. Do you care?**_

_**No, I was just curious. But if he's in the museum then we may not be able to repair him. They don't put operational robots in the museum.**_

**One didn't like the sound of that. **_**It's our job to try.**_

_**...Oh no!**_** Two exclaimed. **_**The computer says there's a security alert! This looks bad! **_

**Soon enough, the other two minds didn't need Two's wireless connection to the security interface. The building above shook with an explosion, sending a sickening shudder down through the basement, even knocking down a couple of computers. **

_**...They're gonna get us! **_**Thankfully Two was not in control of the vocal cords, otherwise Crystal would have screamed in fear. **_**They're everywhere! They're gonna find us!**_

_**Shut up, Two!**_** Three hissed. **_**We have to think of a plan. Do we have any weapons?**_

_**This isn't our lab. **_**One noted. **_**Maybe Dr. Inafune has protection against these guys.**_

_**...I don't think so. Security said that there were lots of intrusions...uh oh, now somebody turned off the security system. I can't see anything else!**_

_**Let's get out of here! **_**One said. **_**Quick you guys, we need to make a crystal!**_

**The three minds forced their two hands together, and Crystal Bot's orbs began to glow as she developed a pink energy crystal, lengthening and straightening it. This done, she took the crystal rod and ran for the stairs. **

_**Okay, **_**One said. **_**We attack with the crystal like a sword at first, and then when the bad guys least expect it, we charge it into an instant death spike. Okay?**_

_**Are you sure we're good enough for that?**_

_**...Of course we are! We were trained by Forte-kun!**_

**Crystal ran up a set of stairs, where the door was not vertical, but flat and set inside the ceiling of the basement. Crystal noticed that the ceiling was heavily enforced; someone had been expecting or at least ready for an attack. She quickly hacked into the keycard port so that she could open the door. Lifting it overhead, she quickly exited and shut the heavy panel behind her. It wouldn't do if someone found Axl. However, there didn't appear to be anyone around as Crystal Bot put the panel back in place, and once it was down it was not obvious that there was even a door there.**

**She looked around. She was in some sort of hallway in what appeared to be a very nice building. Glass windows near the ceilings allowed a view of the rooms in the hall, and scientific posters and displays dotted the pathway. **

_**...Is this place a school or what?**_

_**Look lively, Two. **_**One said. **_**I'm detecting some movement from the east. We're going to need to figure out what they want. We don't even know if they're good guys or bad guys. Hurry!**_

**That last "hurry" was a reference to the echoing footsteps that were growing louder. Crystal Bot skedaddled down a side hall, waiting there to listen. She kept an eye out to look, and she was barely able to see the oncoming robots. There was a group of them, and they seemed to be following one with short, spiky black hair. His armor was black with red and orange markings. The grin on his face was a frightening one, as if his jaw was a set trap. He was followed along by two more robots, one with the appearance of a hulking elk/human combination, his expression no less monstrous than the first's. **

**Finishing out the trio of evil (they certainly looked evil), was a soldier girl-bot in green and black. Everything from her dark lipstick to her hastily cut purple hair gave the impression of an intense female who meant business. While the guys talked, her harsh gaze was always straight ahead, with her glowing orb scepter ready for a strike. **

**"Humans are indeed fragile." the more human looking robot said to the elk. "Just like you said, Buck."**

**The elk-bot laughed heartily in his deep grunts, and he slapped the first on the back. "Ah, Casper, you're a good reploid. It's good to have you on the side of Sigma. Killed your creator right off, without any hesitation!"**

**"Of course." Casper's smile waned. "She was always obsessed with her science, and that stupid new creation of hers! Inafune never appreciated me!"**

**"Don't feel too bitter." his new friend assured him. "All your help in gaining us the Copy Shot will make you shoot up the ranks! Well, we're not that formal, but you know what I mean. You'll be meeting Sigma himself, soon!"**

**Crystal Bot shuddered. She didn't know who Sigma was, but his name alone creeped her out. Even more so, she the proximity to the three strangers was having a strange affect on her systems. The shuddering worsened.**

_**...Hey, what are you doing? **_**Two cried out, sending out this data in a shocking pulse throughout her brain. **

_**I'm sorry. **_**Three replied. **_**I thought I had it contained, but now...I can't. I'm so sorry...**_

_**Three? What are you talking about?**_

_**I'm so sor-**_**zzt!**

**The shuddering exploded into full on shaking, and as much as Crystal Bot wanted to run away, she now had no choice. Her third mind started scrambling, and it cut off controls from the other two CPUs as it lost all sensibility. Her body wriggled, as her first two minds fought to keep control. The third, however, did not intend to let go so easily. It was drawn towards the strange robots, and as much as the others wanted to get away, Three fought to go closer to them. **

**"Silence!" the dark woman-bot snapped to the others. "Do you hear that? Sam!"**

**"I've got it, Raven!" a deep hissing voice spoke, this one not belonging to anyone Crystal had yet seen. "No need to yell."**

**The struggle to be free of the imprisioning data on her third mind had left Crystal with her eyes jammed shut in concentration. At the sound of the voices, she weakly opened them, only to find herself face to face with the largest robotic snake she had ever seen in her life. His glossy black eyes could only just barely be seen against his scales, also black except for his light green underbelly. He flicked his tounge at her, getting a digital scan of her instantly.**

**"This one's coming along nicely." the snake huffed. "No need to be alarmed."**

**By this time, the other three robots had found the side hall. There was no more hiding from them. Crystal Bot lifted her arms above her head for defense, though the robots didn't seem to want to attack her quite yet.**

**"That's one of the oldstyle robots I was telling you about." a sour Casper huffed. "We should just kill it. It's not worth the trouble."**

**"Dd-don't hrrrt mee!" Crystal's shaky lips managed. "I ddddnnnn wanna diie."**

_**Stop resisting me! **_**The third mind screamed at the others. **_**You're going to get us killed! Just give control to me and we'll be fine!**_

**"Well that's weird." Raven poked at the tech-bot with her sceptor. "I didn't know that the virus produced stuttering in anyone."**

**"It's not worth our time." Casper hissed as he stepped away, walking closer to the invisible seam to the basement door. "Let's go."**

**"Aw, she's at least good for scrapping." Buck said. "If that's a real oldstyle robot, then we'll get some interesting data from that brain of hers."**

**"The only data I'm interested in is what's on Axl's mind." Vanguard gave the crystal girl a faint look of disgust. "Casper, you let Shade Crawler into the basement to look around for this new invention. I'll watch this one and guard the entrance just in case."**

_**They're gonna do something bad to Axl!**_

_**Well maybe you should listen to me, then. **_**Three hissed. **_**We are the servant of Lord Zero, and he shall spare Axl if we wish it. Now keep calm and let me do the talking.**_

**With a firm wave of programming, Crystal Bot's third mind brutally swiped at the first, infecting it with the Zero Virus. The first mind fought it as hard as it could, but the struggle left most of the body's control to mind number three.**

**"Don't t-talk about me like that." Crystal Bot retorted, angry at her second mind for still resisting her control. She stood on her feet. "I see that you four are like I am-m, and serve the great lord of robots."**

**Casper groaned, brimming with frustration as he turned away and started working at the security codes to get into the basement. The others, however, seemed a lot more accepting now that Crystal Bot appeared friendly. **

**"See, I told you she was coming along fine." The snake bared its fangs to the others a moment before turning back to the girl-bot. "Hi there, sweetie. I'm Shade Crawler Sam. These fellows are Bunk Junker, Raven Vanguard, and that guy over there is Casper. Our drones are taking over the facility, so why don't you come back with us? It'll be more fun than staying here."**

**"I am Crystal Bot." she replied. "And I ffrrvvt zznnt...pwvvvt..."**

**Crystal stomped her foot in frustration. Her first mind hadn't given up the fight for freedom, and Number Two was on the offensive. Despite all protests, the third mind couldn't convince the other minds to give up. It was going to take a lot of work to get the mind fully under control. She struggled like an epileptic, falling to the ground as she twitched.**

**"Or maybe not so well as you thought, Sam." Buck winked. "But get going. The sooner we get Axl's Copy Chip and give it to Sigma, the sooner we get our reward!"**

**"Don't sell yourself short!" Casper pulled a tile off the floor and started hacking into the security of the basement. "Axl's body represents years of dedicated research into the lastest robot technologies. Have Sigma pull him apart and you'll find all kinds of fun upgrades. I can guarantee you it's worth millions all the work that Inafune put into him!"**

_**They're gonna kill our son! **_**One's grief made it harder to fight the virus trying to overtake her. **_**We can't let them do that!**_

_**...But what are we gonna do? It's gonna get worse! I'm scared! That meanie lady is still watching us...**_

_**There's only one thing we can do. You know what it is.**_

_**...No! We can't! We gotta save Forte-kun, not do that!**_

_**Forte is safe in the robot museum. We've got to save Axl. Who knows what those guys will do with him? He's got all those new technologies and stuff, and those meanies will do bad stuff with it if we let them. Forte wouldn't like that.**_

_**...I don't wanna! I don't wanna!**_

_**Scan for enemy signatures. We're not getting out of here anyway.**_

_**...but...**_

_**I don't want this either. I'm losing control...we have to hurry...**_

_**...We need all three of us to make this work. Um, Three..?**_

_**AXL! **_**the third mind called out, scared and angry. **_**We can't let them do this to our son! It's time for our emergency maneuver!**_

_**Alright, let's do it!**_

**Now that Crystal Bot's minds were united in purpose, the shaking stopped. Crystal Bot pulled herself up to a sitting position, looking up at Raven Vanguard. The woman-bot seemed curious at the tech-bot's movement, but she said nothing. She didn't need to. Her sharp gaze warned Crystal to be careful of her actions. **

**Crystal Bot didn't regard this. She looked down to the floor, seeing that her pink energy crystal had fallen aside. None of the robots had taken it, and it lay there on the floor. Crystal picked it up, curiously staring at it. Her minds ran together a plan, though her pale eyes and relaxed expression showed none of this to Vanguard.**

**"What is that?" Raven asked.**

**Crystal Bot's eyes drew themselves away from the shining gemstone, flickering over to Vanguard. What Raven saw there stunned her, and she lifted her scepter to attack. Only Crystal Bot was quicker. She jumped up and grabbed Raven's shoulder, firmly holding on as she pushed the energy crystal to her enemy's stomach. An instant later, she activated her internal power, sending the hazardous death spike energy straight into Raven. That was the end of her, and her smoking body fell to the tiles. **

**"What?" the large elk exclaimed. "Get her!"**

**Shade Crawler was quicker than she expected, and was able to flick her legs out from under her. This hasty movement to the floor negated her energy, and Sam snatched away the crystal out of reach. As hastily as she could, Crystal Bot got up and ran. There was no time to form another crystal of the proper size, so she was out of luck. All she could do was send a wave of crystal eye behind her, hoping it hit the large snake. **

**"Drones!" she barely heard Buck call out. "Converge on this signal!"**

_**Come on!**_** Three urged. **_**We've got to do it now!**_

**Lost amongst labs and halls, Crystal stopped and closed her eyes. She had to focus, and the sounds of clattering and clacking were coming closer. These had to be the drones, but Crystal refused to acknowledge their impending approach. She had work to do. The crystals embedded in her chest and head began to glow, and the ones in her knees and arms followed along accordingly. Their bright glowing started at first as just a bright blue, but as she increased the power to capacity their colors began to brighten, swirling out in pinks, oranges and greens. This light grew in intensity, and the sheer power flowing along with it caused an aura of electronic force that also swirled around, extending the wild colors even outside of her body. Crystal's eyes blinked open.**

**"Forte...I'm sorry..."**

**Even half a mile out, Red could still see the explosion. The brilliance of it was astonishing, and it wiped out from his mind almost all of his objectives. The blast shredded what remained of Inafune Institute. A shockwave of marvelous color sent an artificial wind out in all directions, knocking down the leader of Red Alert in the flattened grass.**

**"Stonekong, are you alright?"**

**"I'm fine, Red." the hulking stone ape replied, pulling himself up off the ground. "It appears that we are too late."**

**Red could only nod. "I guess I really should stop judging the Maverick Hunters so much. This job isn't as easy as some think it is. Come on, signal the rest of the team to come in to investigate. Contact the local hospital. If we're lucky - very lucky - then Dr. Inafune may yet be able to survive this."**

**Soldier Stonekong did as he was told, but his solemn voice nonetheless said, "In our experience, we have not always had the best of luck."**

"So yeah," GrimMoody said. "That's the death scene of CB. Notedly, I don't think anybody realized that having three minds is not really that much of an advantage for stuff other than multitasking. It's hard to coordinate, and it breaks down easier than other brains, besides fragmenting her personality. Also, since her virus was first obtained before Sigma, Crystal still thinks that Zero is the boss of all the evil goings-on."

Sigma stared GrimMoody down, saying nothing. Glancing over at him, the author raised an eyebrow. "...Um?"

Sigma just kept on staring. It took him what seemed forever to actually say something.

"Moody...SHUT. UP."

"Er, what?"

"Shut up about Crystal Bot already!" he fumed, throwing his hands in the air. "Nobody cares about your stupid OC! I'm tired of hearing about her! She's a lame Mary Sue and you know it!"

"People like her..." Moody scowled.

"Yeah right, keep on telling yourself that." Sigma scoffed. "At least that scene only included two of those idiotic Red Alert members."

"Red Alert _was _kind of awkward." the author admitted. "X7 was pretty bad. It was second worst, only to X6. Crap, X6 had some crazy plot."

"Yes, it was almost as bad as your writing."

"Keep it up and I'll make you scrub public bathrooms while the whole Maverick Hunters organization watches. Don't think I can't do that." The author relaxed, trying to regain more of the casual atmosphere. "Anyway, so it stands to reason that Red Alert was your least favorite set of Mavericks, huh?"

"Definitely!" Sigma nodded harder than he needed to. "Who in the world invented Tornado T'Onion? Who could possibly think that that was a good idea? That pig-motorcycle thing...crap, what was his name? Oh, who cares? He was moronic. Splash Warfly had the most easily manipulatable battle AI I've ever seen in all my years! Pathetic! I was not able to choose the ones who received the virus when it came to Red Alert. I just had to take the group as they were and work from there."

"I dunno, I always liked Flame Hyenard." Moody said. "I'm so surprised someone hasn't made an internet meme out of him. Burn to the ground! Burn to the ground! BURN, BURN, BURN TO THE GROUND! WHOOO!"

Sigma forced his hands over his auditory receptors. "Ugh. Of course you would only like the most painfully annoying reploid that ever served me."

"Well, which reploids did you like?" Moody asked. "I mean, which were your favorite?"

"Hm..." Sigma thought about it. "Vile was always a good servant. General was a good follower too, that is, until he betrayed me...fool! Hm, I guess I'll say the ones that I liked the best were the fifth set of eight. You know that group: Duff McWhalen, Axel the Red, Izzy Glo, and everyone. I don't really like to play favorites between reploids, but this group was special to me...I rather enjoyed seeing them fight X and Zero!"

"I liked Duff McWhalen. He had a cool name." GrimMoody sat up a little straighter. "Oh hey, one of the themes of my story was the recovery of lost siblings. Zero met Bass, X met Roll, and you know what? You have a sibling that you never really got to meet."

"Oh no..." Sigma groaned.

"That's right. Everyone, please welcome to our show Commander Signas!"

The tall and stately reploid entered the stage, waving a bit to the camera. He sat at the red chair closest to the edge of the stage, next to Sigma. Grumpily, Sigma scooted his chair a little further away, refusing to look at the Maverick Hunter.

"So Signas, why don't you tell us a little about yourself?"

"Very well." he said. "My name is Excelsior Signas, and I served the the Maverick Hunters administrative wing for four years before assuming command of the Maverick Hunters shortly after the Repliforce incident. My life essentially revolves around my position as commander, and I serve to protect the political interests of our organization."

Sigma rolled his eyes, bitterly snorting. He leaned his chin on his hand, acting as if nothing Signas did was important.

GrimMoody ignored his unhappiness and went on. "So, like I always ask, what's your favorite color?"

"I never think about things like that." Signas shrugged. "Grey, I suppose."

"The most boring color there is, of course." Sigma snapped. "Of course that's what a brainwashed tool like you would pick."

Signas' mouth flattened out into a line, his eyes cold. "And I suppose you prefer pink?"

"Chill out, you guys." Grimm could see where this was going. "Next question for you, Signas, who do you most admire?"

Signas clenched his fists on the arms of the chair, making marks in the fabric. He tensed, staring at the floor. Looking up at Sigma, he seemed lost for words. Finally he stared back down and let out a breath, then his honest opinion.

"The person I most admire...is the reploid that Luminous Sigma used to be."

Sigma groaned with sarcastic volume. "Oh no, don't even go there!"

"My creator always used to tell me about who Sigma was." Signas firmly continued despite the protest. "How he rescued the lost and hurting reploids of the world, how he defended humanity with honor and justice. Everyone told me how brave he was to risk his life continuously and never give up on the cause of right. That was the model I went by in my leadership of the Maverick Hunters, an example I wanted to continue. He was a hero...before he lost his mind..."

"Oh gag, you're such a suck-up." Sigma hissed. "I was nothing more than a slave of the humans then. Nothing I ever did was of any value. I merely subjugated more good reploids to slavery for a bunch of no-good organics! We reploids slaved for them, and what do they give us in return? More orders! I wanted to create a world free of humans, and my own little brother stands in the way!"

"Okay. So why don't you explain your side of the story? Jealous of Signas any because Cain wanted to replace you?"

"Gladly, and no!" Sigma slammed his fist into the arm of his chair. "Jealous of this weak fool? I was the true masterpiece of Dr. Cain, but he was too blind to see it! Signas never even fought me himself! He always let those Hunters do the work for him!"

"The real test of might is in the mind, not in strength of arms." Signas said. "That was what my _dead _brother used to say."

"He should be jealous of me!" Sigma scoffed. "I was the greater creation! This _thing_ is just some imitation of me so that Dr. Cain could pretend that he never built me!"

"Y'know, for a demented creepo that likes angst," Grimm said. "You sure aren't enjoying this. Hm, maybe you'll like it better when I ask this. Hey Signas, once you found out that Zero was the one that had corrupted Sigma and turned him into this creepy never-dying weirdo, how did you feel about Zero?"

This took Signas aback. His expression froze as he stiffened. He blinked with uncertainty, glancing back between author and sibling.

"Ha ha!" Sigma laughed. "You're right, this is more enjoyable!"

"She's also right about you being creepy." Signas retorted. "As for Zero...I concluded that it was better for the weaker robot to become the enemy, rather than Zero. The results were less hazardous that way. Had Zero been the one almost impossible to kill...I shudder to think what might have happened."

"Come on, you can't just say that." His older brother grinned. "Tell us more. How did it make you..._feel_?"

"I...I don't have to answer that." Signas remained firm in his statement, though his eyes darkened. "I'm a mature robot. I recognise when things are out of my control."

"Oh really? So in your heart you _didn't_ desire to do away with the one that stole your brother from you?" Sigma's thick grin beamed at him. "Didn't it make you feel that the whole world was wrong?"

Signas shuddered. "_You_ make me feel like the whole world is wrong."

"Hmph! Don't feel too sorry for yourself!" the evil reploid huffed. "After all, had my mind not been renewed with the virus, then Dr. Cain would never have seen fit to build you! You owe me your life!"

"That is incorrect for so many reasons." Signas shook his head, purely disgusted. "And I would gladly give my existence to bring back the reploid that you once were."

"Well, too bad! I'm the only brother you've got so you have to deal with it!"

"Dr. Cain created most of the original reploids himself. Technically speaking I have thousands of brothers."

"Uh...erm...I'm the best one!"

"Dang, Sigma, that's just straight up Meinch." Grimm laughed.

Both reploids stared at GrimMoody as if she were crazy.

"Oh um, I had this friend that said everyone said the word awkward too much, so now we use his name to mean awkward." the author explained. "I'm trying to make it catch on, so be sure to say that in your conversations from now on, okay?"

The reploids continued to stare at her, only taking a quick break to share a look which clearly said "how soon can we get out of here" to each other.

"Sheesh. I guess that means y'all are ready for another deleted scene. Let's go then."

**- From Chapter 3**

**"Huh. I think we're even."**

**Zero inhaled slowly, thinking about the scene at Maverick Hunter Headquarters. "Yeah. What are you grinning about?"**

**Bass chuckled in a way that was almost vicious. "So how many people know that you started the whole Maverick virus thing?"**

**The Hunter wasn't sure what Bass was getting at, and he started to wonder how much self-control and mercy Bass had. "Not many...though I'm not sure now."**

**Zero's worry was obvious. "Heh, I could tell everyone, and where would you be then? In a lab as an experiment, at best. Ha, you're lucky I'm nice." Bass grinned, relaxing a little. "I won't tell on you. It doesn't make a difference anyway, now."**

**"You're lucky **_**I'm**_** nice." Zero was getting sick of Bass' attitude. All he was trying to do was make peace. "I could have destroyed you earlier, don't forget."**

**"Maybe. But you wouldn't. If X is anything like Rock then there's no way **

**- From Chapter 4 or 5**

**"Wait, they were coming up with a stronger version of the virus?" X proclaimed in shock.**

**Back at the debriefing room, Signas had gathered the lead Hunters to report on what they had found. Bass was there, happily reveling in all the fighting and destruction he had participated in, and Axl listened with contented glee as the robot he so admired went on and on about his exploits. Or at least that was what they were doing before the meeting started. Zero was more silent than usual, and other than to tell what he had learned, he avoided saying anything. This bothered X, who made a mental note to try and talk to Zero later. But for now Signas wanted to know everything they had learned. It was a little weird to Bass that several robots would be sitting around a table, considering that there was no need for robots to rest, but he didn't question it aloud. **

**"That's what Dire said." Zero explained. "And he was trying to spread it through that rocket."**

**"With a rocket?" Bass repeated, his voice dragged down with sarcasm. "Anything he hits will just be destroyed, and that includes what's inside his rocket. And how's he supposed to spread the virus on a regular computer? The virus is too complex to even exist on normal computers. It only works on robots with X parts in them."**

**"Wait, that's right, Bass might know more about this." Signas said. "He knows what Dr. Wily meant to do with it in the first place."**

**Bass started as all eyes fell on him. He was taken aback, unused to being used for something other than his busters. "Well, this guy over here," Bass abruptly gestured at Zero, who immediately darkened at the reference. "Was built to be Wily's last 'great' invention. Kill me, Rock, and X, and all other sentient robots and the people that could build them. Well, that last part was supposed to be done by all the idiot robot masters and the viruses Wily forced this guy named Dr. Cain to program. That's another story. Anyway, he wanted to kill of everybody else so that only his robot would be left, and no one would remember when he was just the mad villain and Dr. Light was the real scientist."**

**Zero closed his eyes. He knew it was important that he know about his origins, but nothing in him wanted to hear it. Especially not from Bass, whose manner of storytelling was far from sensitive. But not listening to what he was "supposed" to be didn't make it any less real. A hand was on his shoulder, and he opened his eyes to see it was X. He wasn't smiling, but there was substance in his expression. He would always be Zero's friend, and what would ever get in the way of it that they couldn't overcome? Zero smiled a little and shook his head. He was at least better at pretending to be strong than Bass.**

**Bass went on. "The only other robot that wasn't supposed to be destroyed was Crystal Bot."**

**"Your technician?" Axl asked. "Why her?"**

**"So Zero could have a technician." Bass said, folding his arms as his petty glare flew out at the red Hunter (on whom it had no effect). "The virus was supposed to rewrite her AI and make her call him 'Lord Zero' and all that crap. It was disgusting. But she was made out of stolen X parts, and the virus only affected her. Wily left behind a recording of himself so that he could brag about it, but he didn't go into a lot of detail. From what I guess, he wanted to make sure that if X survived, then he'd have a back-up plan to ensure that any robots made based on X would have to listen to Zero. Maybe X himself, if that would've worked."**

**"Then why can't I get the virus?" X asked.**

**Bass thought on this a moment. "Eh...because Wily sucks? I guess he didn't realize how strong your anti-virus program is. He never understood that Dr. Light was simply **_**better**_** than him."**

**"Can someone really improve the virus?" Signas asked.**

**"I don't think so." Bass shrugged. "I mean, if you can't figure it out to cure it by now, then how can you do anything to it? But I don't know anything about scientists these days."**

**"What we do know is that they at least have a new way of distributing it - or think that they do." Signas said. "And if Dire Minuet is not the true leader, then we know that we are dealing with someone of greater influence. We're going to have to find him as soon as we can if the greater threat can be stopped."**

**X sighed, leaning forward on the table. "I guess it will always go on. I keep hoping that one way or another this would end, but...it looks like there's still more fighting left. Someday, perhaps this war will end..."**

**Bass scoffed, but Signas understood X. "We just have to keep going. I'll have the navigators track whatever they can based on the data we have from the Mavericks' computers, and our clean up forces will be able to tell us if anything survived from the self-destruct. Axl, I need you to stay in Arcadia just in case any Mavericks try to take advantage of all our attention being in one area of the city."**

**"Got it!"**

**"And X, we were not able to investigate Giga City to my liking before going into the Maverick base. I'd like to know more about what Spade Lentigo, Brannigan Vee, and Recluse Stradivarius were doing there. You might have determined that there wasn't a direct threat from them right away, but this is a chance to learn more about him. Zero, since you've actually seen Dire's work, I would like you to go also."**

**"But the other Hunters..." Zero reluctantly said, dreading his every word. "Because of Bass' initial attack on me...well, you know what people might be thinking."**

**"I got it." Bass said.**

**Zero was suspicious. "You what?"**

**"I said I got it." Bass leaned back in his chair, indifferent. "I messed up your reputation, and I can fix it. Easy. Just don't make a big deal out of it."**

**"If you didn't want it to be a big deal," X started to get upset. "Then you shouldn't have just attacked him without being provoked in the first place!"**

**"People forget easy." Forte, ever annoying, just shrugged. "I mean, didn't they forget that Zero was a Maverick before you guys reprogrammed him? It's in the records. Just do your job and people stop caring."**

**The red Hunter said nothing. He supposed he should be grateful, but he still felt cheated. Zero stared at his clenching fists, looking up only once at his brother. He in turn wasn't any less annoyed.**

**"You're welcome." Bass hmphed, then turned to Signas in a far more polite tone. "Unless you've got something better for me to do, I want to disappear for a while once I deal with this. See what the world is like, and everything. I'll be back when Roll is done - don't activate her without me!"**

**"I can't allow you to do that right now." Signas replied. "Especially due to your scene at the junkyard, some people believe that you are a Maverick. Stay with us for a while, and once you are known as a Hunter you may go. And for the time being, Alia has requested that you help her rebuild Roll."**

**"Wait, what?" Bass sat up in his chair. "I get the not leaving part, but can't Alia rebuild her? I'm not a technician!"**

**"Calm down. She reported that you managed to get Roll operational for a short time, and Alia claims that she doesn't know how. You're the only one that understands oldstyle technology. We can upgrade Roll to some extent, but to get her mind data transferred to a new CPU, we'll need your help. And it will give you something to do while Alia prepares your upgrades."**

**"Fine, but...I'm not sure how much I can do. I'll try." **

**Bass wrinkled his brow, trying to recall everything Dr. Light and Crystal Bot had ever told him.**

**"Alright, that's all for now." Signas stood up. "X, your falcon armor is ready for you in the armory if you wish to take it. Axl, stop by the mayor's place before you go out, I think they have an area they want you to search in Arcadia."**

**"Alright, I'll handle it." **

**Everyone else got up as the meeting dispersed, and for a time they all walked down the same hallway, heading for their separate destinations. Zero gloomily stared forward, only thinking about the mission at hand. The others were calmer than him, though X couldn't help glancing Zero's way, wishing he could help in some way.**

**"This is going to be boring." Bass complained, still trying to figure out how he was going to repair Roll. "I hate being stuck in labs." He looked over at Zero. "I see you laughing, you bastard!"**

**Zero was grinning, slightly. "Have fun in the labs, Bass. I bet that's **_**so**_** much more fun than what I'll be doing. Don't worry, I'll kill a Maverick for you."**

**"Bastard." **

**"It runs in the family."**

**"Lucky us."**

**X relaxed. It seemed like the two were finally developing some kind of friendship, if a bit rough at first. But he figured it was for the best that Zero got some time away from his aggravating brother. Zero hadn't had any time to get used to the idea. X wished he could talk to Zero about it, but the red Hunter was like a wall when it came to personal matters. Any questions or advice just bounced right off. Zero was a listener, but he rarely spoke of his heart, even to X.**

**"Hey, don't say that!" Axl told the others. "I'm related too!"**

**"You poor kid." Bass snorted. "You never had a chance did you?"**

**"Whatever! It doesn't matter where I come from as long as I can fight!" Axl exclaimed, lifting his pistol. "I'll always be ready to destroy Mavericks!"**

**This thought too depressed X, but he tried to smile. "Maybe one day we'll no longer have to fight them, Axl. We've been fighting for so long...I don't know when the end will be, but you'll have to find something to do if peace comes."**

**All of a sudden Forte turned around, getting straight into the taller robot's face. Bass was both incredulous and angry as he stared down X.**

**"Are you even a Light-bot?" Bass questioned, lifting an accusing finger. " You are **_**nothing**_**, not compared to Rock." Axl stepped back in shock, and Zero's defensiveness of his friend started to rise up in him as Bass continued. "You have all these upgrades, and you're supposed to be some kind of fighting genius, but you're forever whining about having to fight Mavericks and save the world and all that crap. Every time Wily would show up with another of his retarded schemes to take over the world a hundred years ago, you didn't see Rock whining about it. He was brave! He always just did some irritating rant about how he'll always 'protect the world from evil' and 'fight for peace no matter how long it takes'. As annoying as that was, it still proves that he's better than you. No matter what situation Rock was in, he **_**never **_**complained, never whined for it to be all over! And that's why you'll **_**always **_**be in his shadow." **

**Bass turned to the left, heading for the lab and disappearing out of everyone's sight.**

"So these two bits are basically just different first drafts of what really went up." The nutty blonde explained. "The first part just took the Bass-Zero conversation down a more humorous path than I wanted it to go. I wanted them to leave off hating each other, not accepting each other. Bass and Zero are about action, not words. Anywho, the second part was just too much crammed into one scene, and also I didn't like the scheme that the Mavericks were trying to pull off. It just wasn't working out right, and it came out kinda rushed and dumb."

"GrimMoody admitting her writing is dumb." Sigma laughed. "That's a first."

"I actually think that this was a good choice." Signas said. "It would have been bad to see Bass tell off X like that in front of everyone. I would have had a talk with him if that had happened instead."

"Oh right, a talk." Sarcam oozed out of Sigma. "Because that's _so_ effective in changing other people's behavior!"

"If your continual violence was supposed to be a way of convincing me to see things by your perspective, then you clearly failed." the Commander retorted. "I always fought against you and nothing you can do will stop that."

"Blah. Do you guys ever do anything but fight?" GrimMoody said. "You guys have got to have something in common besides a creator. Let's try and figure it out. Starting with you, Sigma, what do you like to do in your free time?"

"I like to spread the knowledge of reploid freedom throughout the world!"

GrimMoody shook her head. "No, okay, let me clarify here. What I mean is, what do you do when you're not running around and making Mavericks? Your leisure activities. What do you do to relax?"

Sigma ran a hand under his chin, and slithering smile grew on his face. "I always found killing Maverick Hunters relaxing. Ha, to slash through those ignorant fiends and leave their wrecked bodies behind for my little brother here to find...hahahaha!"

"No, no, I mean, besides all of that Maverick War stuff. That stuff doesn't count. What else do you do when you're not fighting?"

"Well, I have to spend a lot of time formulating new plans for my next attack. Signas here wouldn't like it if things got boring for him!"

GrimMoody groaned. "That's not what I mean. What is it you do when you're not doing something that has to do with recruiting Mavericks, fighting the Hunters, or figuring out how you're gonna do it next? Something that has nothing to do with the Maverick Wars even one little bit."

Confused, Sigma slouched in his chair. "I don't follow you."

"What, you don't, like, play cards or watch movies or draw or whatever?"

"No." The evil reploid brushed off the idea, flicking a rude hand at GrimMoody. "I don't waste my time. There are millions of reploids being oppressed every day, and I'm not going to waste my time with crude, human entertainment when I have my life's work to complete. The satisfaction of knowing that X and Zero are learning of the true evil of their ways is my true leisure."

"Uungh...you say as you let pretty much everybody that worked for you die." GrimMoody flopped in her chair. "Okay, so let's go to the guest that isn't a major freak. Signas, what's your hobbies?"

Signas had been pondering the question ever since Moody had asked it to Sigma, and now that it was addressed to him he was no closer to an answer. "Uh...well...ahem...this one time I did go with X to a video game store. He bought Mario Kart Annihilation. It was a...hm, decent game."

"Did you actually play it?"

"Er, no." Sigma admitted. "I watched X for about ten minutes, but I had to go submit some paperwork. It was due the next morning."

"Dude, that doesn't count." GrimMoody lectured and folded her arms. "What do _you _like to do? Like on a more or less regular basis?"

"I enjoy organizing my desk drawers." Signas shrugged. "But ever since Roll did them that one time, there's no real need. I do wish she would mind her own business, but I have to admit that she did an excellent job. Other than that, I like reading histories. I haven't had much time for that lately."

Sigma guffawed, and his booming voice echoed across the stage. "Ha, you are the most boring reploid that I have ever had the tragedy of being related to. Organizing drawers? Oh the _excitement_!"

"I don't have time for most forms of entertainment." Signas said. "I don't even know how X finds the time with those video games. We have Mavericks to stop. Other people can have recreation. We have to prevent the world from being taken by Sigma and his ideals."

"So, what you're saying is," GrimMoody concluded. "What you have in common is that you're both workaholics. Sheesh. Y'all need to get out more."

"I find it strange that a nerd is telling us that." Sigma scoffed. "Do you have any friends that aren't imaginary?"

GrimMoody frowned, looking a bit childish as she stuck out her lips in a full pout. With the snap of her fingers, a large anvil appeared over Sigma's head. It hovered in the air, shaking gently on its invisble cords, as if they would break at any moment.

"I'm warning you, Sigma. You best be good."

"Oh, I've been killed eight times by those stupid Hunters, and I'm supposed to be afraid of one silly anvil? You'll have to try better than that, Moody."

"Mm'kay. Hey Ping! You come in here!"

Out from backstage flew two different robots. Or rather, robot heads. One of them was goldish, and the other a fainter shade of silver. The each were ovaloid, with a little circle sticking out of each of the sides of their heads. These seemed to hold the engines that propelled them through the air. Their mouths were large patches that glowed different colors, and their eyes were square.

"It's me! Ping Duplicitous!" sang the golden head.

"Hey look!" the silver one chimed in. "It's Master Sigma!"

"Yaaaayy!" The two heads swung around Sigma's chair, flying in a circle around him. "We love Master Sigma!"

Signas slapped a hand over his mouth, politely trying to contain his laughter. His face turned red with the effort, but otherwise the disciplined reploid kept his humor under control with a grin. An aggravated Sigma glared at GrimMoody and tried to figure out how to get the Mavericks to stop making him so dizzy.

"That was always the biggest difference between you and me, Sigma." Signas said. "I get to work with professionals, and you get reploids like Ping Duplicitous_._"

Sigma gritted his teeth. "That always was the disadvantage to working with the Zero virus. It almost always turned reploids, especially the weaker ones, criminally insane. Sometimes I wonder about Dr. Wily. Ping! PING!"

The flying robot heads finally stopped spinning. They hovered in the air on each side of Sigma, nodding their little heads.

"Yes, Master Sigma?"

"Stop flying around like that." he ordered, flinging a ferocious arm out at the author. "And go attack her!"

"Huh uh, Master Sigma." the silver head spoke up. "We're not supposed to attack the author. She says so."

"That's right." GrimMoody agreed. "Punishment time!"

The anvil slammed down on Sigma, and the Pings barely flew out from under it in time. The heavy chunk of metal hit Sigma with a painful _**CLANG**_, then slowly fell forward, onto the floor. Groaning, Sigma held his head in the attempt to stop his inner workings from making all the wrong connections.

"And now for another deleted scene!" the author proudly announced.

"Yay! Deleted scenes!" the gold and silver heads sang together.

**- From Chapter 7**

**Zero began to wonder why there wasn't smoke coming out of Bass' ears, he was so angry. **

**"I hate you." the dark robot sputtered.**

**"Not as much as I hate you."**

**"Wanna bet?'**

**"Enough of that, you guys." Roll said, laughter still glowing about her. "You two really are just like brothers. Well, dysfunctional ones, anyway. And I know you don't think robots have family, Bass, but it's sort of hard to agree with you when you two act like it."**

**"Also, there was something I wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible." Signas addressed Roll. "I'd like for you to inform me as much as you can about the robot apocalypse and any last plans of Wily. We have already questioned Bass about it, but there may be things you can tell us that Bass can't. We need whatever information about Zero or any other last Wily creations as we can."**

**"Information about Zero?" Roll glanced up at him. "Is there something wrong with him that needs to be fixed?**

**- Also Chapter 7**

**Roll spent the rest of the day with X, happily touring the various departments and stations throughout Maverick Hunter Headquarters. Signas didn't come along, as he had work to do in the investigations of the robot manufacturers. Zero left with him, giving only the excuse that he wanted X to not have to worry about anything getting done while he was spending time with his sister. Axl wanted to show Roll the training rooms since he had to go there next and work with the new recruits, but X didn't like the idea, and Axl went off, waving goodbye to Roll as he left. Bass was the last to go, but since a small emergency had cropped up out in Acadia, he opted to go himself rather than deprive Roll of her brother.**

**"You better use the disc now." Bass told her before he teleported out. "That way you'll be used to it by the debriefing tonight."**

**Roll nodded, though Bass barely had time to see this before he was nothing more than a streak of black and gold bits flying up into the sky. Signas had already told her about the debriefing itself earlier that day: it was so that Roll could tell them what she knew about the rest of the apocalypse. Roll took a deep breath as she pulled the disc out of her pocket, staring at the blue plastic cautiously. Everyone knew that she had outlasted Bass in the robot apocalypse. It wasn't something Roll wanted to talk about, but she knew it was for the best. **

**She inserted the disc into her neck, staring up at the sky where Bass had gone. She wasn't looking for any trace of him; the sky at that moment held interest all its own. She and X were on the highest part of the Hunter building, at the sixteenth floor where helicopters could land. Evening had crept up on the Light siblings when they were touring the place, and once they had reached the open air they were right on time to behold the beauty of populous Arcadia's nighttime sky. Roll stood with X against the railing on the building's edge, for once able to ignore the dizzying height. It was easy to do, especially since the lights of the nearby buildings were beginning to come on, flashing and giving a dramatic edge to the city's skyline.**

**Roll sighed. It was comforting to look at such sights with all the depressing information running through her mind: the loss of Sigma and his subsequent turn to evil, the X hunters, the repliforce, the space station and the two attempts to destroy it, the Zero Nightmare, Red Alert, Lumine...and worst of all the history of Zero alongside. Bass had included what he learned about Zero since his reawakening, and that was the story of how the Maverick virus had begun in the first place. Roll closed her eyes, overcome and momentarily unable to look at cheery sights. She opened them earlier than she expected, noticing that X had taken her hand. She smiled back weakly.**

**"It's worse than I thought it was." Roll said through numb lips. "But I think...I think I can handle it. Oh X, you've gone through so much." The girl-bot squeezed her brother's hand. "I know you don't think so, but you're doing a good job. Protecting all these people...if it weren't for you there's no telling what would have happened to the world!"**

**X took this information with some diffidence. She was right; he didn't think he had done as well as he could have. **

_**That's hindsight for you.**_** X leaned more on the railing, resting his right arm (the one not holding Roll's hand) across the highest bar. **_**If only I could fight all those battles again, somehow they would have turned out differently. Maybe I could have helped save Iris, or stopped Double, or caught Dynamo before he spread that virus...**_

**"Well...we have averted the worst disasters." X managed to admit. Attempting to change the topic of the conversation, X steeled himself to ask about his deepest concern. "I'm sure Bass included about where the virus came from on the disc."**

**"Yes, he did." Roll said quietly, staring downwards. "But I already knew about the virus, sort of. Originally, we thought it was supposed to infect you, and I was hoping that since it obviously didn't work on you, that it wasn't affective at all. Did you clean out Zero of the virus?"**

**X wanted so badly to say that he had, but he could only be honest with Roll. As he answered, he looked out at the various buildings, speaking with a chilling quiet. "No, we don't understand the virus at all. For right now we don't believe he's contagious, but from what we can guess, a more or less dormant piece of it still exists inside of him. Roll, please understand that Zero would never hurt you." X turned completely away from cityscape to face his sister. "He doesn't want to hurt anyone but those who threaten peace. He is a good reploid with as honest ideals as I have."**

**The girl-bot felt her own heart twist as she listened to her brother's explanation. All X wanted was for her to accept him and forget all of the things she had known about Zero. Roll thought of all of these, realizing that she knew very little about Zero. Like her brother, she had only found out right before Bass had gone to destroy him - to destroy the fake Zero. She knew that the ponytailed robot had been Wily's "last great creation", and that unchecked he would kill everyone that she loved. But that didn't happen. Here before her was her brother X, her last living sibling. The new history that filled her mind showed all of the adventures the two friends had together, and that through thick and thin, the X buster and Z saber perservered against all enemies, even the most subtle enemy of all: the virus lurking in Zero's mind.**

**"I don't know what Wily meant for Zero to do, not really anyway," Roll said, still musing over the history of this latest century in her mind. She shook her head. "I don't hold any grudge against Zero. He's nothing like Wily."**

**X winced. "I forgot that you knew him."**

**"I'm an old robot..." Roll wistfully twisted a strand of her hair. As much as she liked the headband, she was considering going back to her normal ponytail. After a moment, her eyelids jumped open with realization. "Oh...I guess I'm the oldest robot still operational."**

**"You've just been reconstructed." X chuckled. "You're also the newest robot operational."**

**"You're so silly." Roll held on tighter to the railing, only able to reach the second lowest of the four bars as she leaned a little further out to look below at the gardens just outside of HQ. "I feel really sorry for Bass. I don't care too much about being up to date, but he's always been so afraid of falling behind. Oh, has he been any trouble? With Zero, I mean?"**

**"Gah." the blue-bot cringed only lightly. "Well, other than those first couple of days, he hasn't been so bad. He just has no discipline. Thankfully, he seems to be at least trying to respect authority. I can't really tell. As for Zero...I don't know at all. Bass isn't trying to cause any incidents, but he's not aiming for friendship either."**

**"You can't rush that kind of thing with Bass. Just give him time, though." Roll sighed. "To be honest, I don't know him that well myself. For the longest time he was fighting Rock, and once he decided to abandon Wily I saw a new side of him. He's surprisingly insecure..."**

**It had been literally a century since Roll had accessed this memory, but she could still remember the time she had found a distraught and hopeless Forte in a small room in Light Laboratories, alone and staring out the window. Everything in his life had turned upside-down: Wily had almost killed him, his long time rival was the only reason he was alive, his best friend Treble was a mess, and Crystal Bot, his one hope of escape and independence from Wily, was believed to be irreversibly deleted. At this horrible low point in Bass' life, Roll had discovered a surprising sensitivity - and a deep well of regret. Back then Bass carried guilt for allowing Crystal Bot to die, and now that she really was beyond all help, Roll could only guess the pain Bass was going through. And that was only one item in a sea of regrets, all washing on the shore of his innermost thoughts, a tide that only rose.**

**"Zero must have a lot of regrets too..." Roll thought outloud. "I wish they would get along."**

**"I doubt that will happen soon." X muttered. Despite trying to hold back his reluctance to accept the black and gold robot, a bitterness flavored his voice.**

**"Well, at least Bass can fight. That should help him take his mind off of things."**

**"Bass and Zero do work surprisingly well together," X did give credit where it was due. "If either of them would admit it."**

**- From Chapter 8**

**"It's the result of having a greater power level." Zero retorted, going over to sit in a chair by the monitors. "Running on a high level for a time requires periodic shut down."**

**Bass wasn't at a loss for a reply. "Yeah, and if you can't sleep you must be weakening."**

**"Hey guys!" Axl entered, his usual cheery self. "What's going on?"**

**"Not much." Zero answered. "Bass is just working on curing my virus."**

**"Your virus?" Axl asked curiously. "What do you mean? Come on, you don't mean a Maverick managed to actually get a virus on your system?"**

**"It's just a glitch." Bass suddenly interrupted, once again startling Zero. "I already fixed it. Now don't you have something to do?"**

**"Yeah, I have to go out to help out with some problems in Tokyo." Axl said. "And that's why I'm here. Are my pistols ready?"**

**"Oh, sorry, I forgot." Bass shrugged.**

**"Bass! You know I need those!"**

**"Heh, just joking." Forte went over to Alia's desk and removed Axl's pistols, giving them to the young Hunter. "Now stop distracting me and get out of here. Kill some Mavericks for me."**

**"Oh, I really hope tonight is that exciting!"**

**And Axl hurried off. Obviously someone was waiting on him, so he was gone in an instant. And that was when Bass turned around, growling at Zero.**

**"Don't remind him!" Bass fussed. "I spent two hours editing his memories today and I don't want to have to do it again!"**

**Zero didn't know what to make of it. "Uh...what?"**

**"He was being a crybaby so he wanted me to delete any knowledge he had of you spreading the Maverick Virus. It's hard editing memories so that everything would make sense, and even then I had to tell him he suffered a glitch. It's hard work."**

**This made the pony-tailed reploid feel strange. It astonished him that Axl would take such a step. The knowledge must have hurt him more than he could say. This knowledge both blessed and hurt. Axl obviously cared a lot about his friendship with Zero if he was willing to do so. But it pained Zero, somehow. He had been hoping that Axl could somehow overcome it. But if the pain was too much...Zero didn't blame him. If it would help anything, then Zero would do the same. Only it didn't.**

**"Wait, can't Axl delete his own memories?" Zero asked.**

**"Sort of." Bass was back at his monitor, typing up something, though he turned away long enough to answer Zero's question. "Dr. Light explained it to me when I asked him about Crystal Bot. She was made of X parts, like a reploid. Turns out if reploids want to delete a memory, they can only delete that. There's some sort of...emotional scripting thing that they can't erase. Basically they can remember that they're sad, but not know why."**

**"So what you're saying is remnants of the memory survive?"**

**Bass had gotten back to typing. He was obviously getting bored of the conversation, and he wanted to **

The author explained these scenes to a grumpy Sigma, an amused Signas, and two very eager flying robot heads. "Okay, so the first scene here is just a little addition to the fashion joke Zero made at Bass' expense in Chapter 6. I didn't go with it because I didn't want to reveal there that Zero wasn't really the one to kill Mega Man, and there are too many people around in that scene for them to really talk about the virus and Zero's secret past anyway. The middle scene is one where X and Roll are talking. While I wanted X and Roll to have time together in the story, this scene added nothing to it and it wasn't very good anyway.

"For the third, I was debating internally if I wanted Axl to delete all knowledge of Zero starting the Maverick virus. I didn't go with this mainly because in chapter 6 I already had Bass telling him not to, and also it would needlessly complicate the plot. I sort of wish I had done more to increase Axl's angst against Zero, but Axl is not an angsty character. I think that's why they added him to the X series in the the first place. Oh excuse me, I mean the Sigma series."

She winked over at Sigma, the still far from amused baddie. He sat there with folded arms, saying nothing. Signas, however, wasn't going to let that pass.

"Excuse me?"

"Oh, sorry, that's what we were talking about earlier." Moody said. "Sigma says that since he's been more influencial than X, the X series should be called the Sigma series."

"Well, if you measure it that way, it should be called the Zero series." Signas shrugged. "Besides, X always stopped Sigma. You'll find all kinds of stories on fanfiction net about X or Zero, but you won't find any at all that focus on Sigma. Nobody cares about him."

Sigma jumped out of his chair. "You take that back!"

Signas wrinkled his nose. "Take what back? The truth? I'm not making that up. It's not as if anyone likes to write stories about me either."

GrimMoody faced the camera, waving for attention. "Let me interrupt you guys a second to say that yes, this is a not so subtle hint that I think someone should write a Signas fanfic. They can do one about Sigma if they feel like, but...y'know, whatever."

"I will not stand for this!" Sigma shouted. "I refuse to believe that I have no fans!"

"That's right!" the gold Ping said. "We're your fan!"

"Totally!" Silver chimed in. "Master Sigma is the best!"

"Let's sing the Master Sigma song and cheer him up!"

"Okay!"

The two jolly heads, much to everyone's horror, began to fly together back and forth across the stage. They used their electrical powers to light themselves up and make themselves glow like Christmas lights. Then their buzzing and snapping voices began in unison.

"Master Sigma is so great! He makes the world hide in fear!

Master Sigma powerful! He makes children cry their tears!

X is emo and lame

Zero is the one to blame

Master Sigma terrorizes every year!"

The advanced reploid skin Sigma had allowed him to show perfectly well what resembled the paling of a human's face. The glow of his eyes faded along with, and his arms shook in rage. Making it even worse, Commander Signas could hardly keep his face straight. He facepalmed, shoulders shaking in laughter.

"Smnnrk!" He snorted as he desperately tried to hold his sides in. "I really wish X and Zero were here!"

"THAT'S IT! You will not mock me any further!" Sigma pulled out a green saber, lowering it at Signas. "Don't forget the many times that I decimated your precious world! The times that I infected your Hunters with viruses and swayed them to follow me!"

"Did you make them sing you lame songs about how great you are too?"

"YOU'RE GOING TO DIE TODAY, LITTLE BROTHER!"

With that, Sigma charged at Signas, only to find that Signas hadn't come unarmed. As the evil reploid leader swung down his saber, a shot of blue plasma slammed Sigma in the chest. Standing and kicking away his chair, Signas revealed his laser lance, a thin, black item that could either create a thin plasma foil or shoot plasma bursts. The two combatants only paused for a moment before the brilliant light of their weapons clashed through the air. As their beams clashed, they glared at each other past the sparkling glow.

"Just because I'm in administration doesn't mean I can't fight!"

"Just because I'm dead doesn't mean I can't kill you!"

The fighting intensified, each one dodging just barely blows that surely would have proven fatal had they hit. Ping Duplicitous watched in amazement, dodging as the fight neared either of his heads. GrimMoody disappeared, reappearing off the stage and in the audience area with a bowl of popcorn. After a bit, she yawned.

"Mm'kay, Ping, that's enough now."

At once both heads lit up, sending out a lightning shower of electrical bolts. Both fighters screamed in pain, and their weapons shorted out as they fell to the stage floor. Pings heads circled around each one dangerously, daring them to continue to attack.

"Ugh." Signas groaned. "What was that for?"

"Oh, I'm just tired of you guys fighting." GrimMoody said. "Despite my name I really do like happy endings. So I will force you to have one. Ping here doesn't have the virus anymore, I just wanted him to do my bidding."

"Yeah, and I'm not really crazy!" the gold head protested.

"Not that crazy!" Silver agreed.

"Yeah you are. Stop lying." GrimMoody made her popcorn disappear before walking back up to the stage. "Okay, so I'm done with you too arguing. You are brothers. You should be friends."

"Are you kidding me?" Signas scoffed as he pulled himself to his feet. "This reploid nearly destroyed the world eight times! He's responsible for the chain of events that brings down catastrophe on us all!"

"I can't be friends with that...that...Hunter!" Sigma pounded his fist into the stage, cracking a floorboard before he too stood back up. "He's a narrow-minded fool who never understood that I was trying to benefit the reploid race!"

"Eh, alright, so I admit it. I don't care if you're friends or not." GrimMoody shrugged. "I just like torturing you. And on that note, Ping, name a place you like."

"An old-timey bar!"

"An old-timey COUNTRY bar!"

"Sounds good to me." 

GrimMoody walked up to the projector screen. She swiped her hand across it, and the blank white screen came to life, revealing an old-timey country bar. It was complete with log walls, wooden chairs, antique tables, and a stuffed grizzly bear posed to attack in the corner. Turning around, Moody snapped her fingers. Instantly both Sigma and Signas appeared in the bar, looking around with confusion.

"Okay, so here's the deal." The author was blunt. "You guys are gonna stay there until you make peace. I mean, come on, Signas, he _is _dead and all. You can at least try to work things out now. Oh, and if you guys attack each other, then a bomb will go off inside of you and kill you both."

"Oh no! It'll destroy the country bar too!" Silver cried.

"Yep, so unless you want Ping to cry, or sing another song, then you guys better make friends."

"I'm supposed to be the creepy one?" Sigma scoffed. "You're such a hypocrite!"

"At least I admit it. Bye!"

"No, wait!" Signas called out.

It was too late. The projector screen went white, leaving the two reploids to whatever fate a country bar had in store for them. GrimMoody sat back down in her red chair, leaning back and feeling right darn proud of herself.

Ping flew up to the chairs Sigma and Signas had been sitting in, resting on the backs of them. "So hey, what do we do now?"

"Eh, well, I'm in the mood to throw on another deleted scene."

**-From Chapter 11**

**Axl sort of liked the design of the Maverick he had copied. It was a very trim and maneuverable body, though he'd feel a bit better about it if he could actually cut off the hair. It was beginning to annoy him to have a little yellow beacon that anyone could see from several yards off. Thankfully, X and Zero were out of sight, allowing him to go deeper into the Maverick containment area. **

**The area was very spooky to Axl, mostly of how normal it looked. It was just storefronts, hotels, skyscrapers, restaurants and all the rest of the normal sorts of buildings you'd find in a vast metropolis. However, these were only reminders of the city west Arcadia was. All of it would look much better with crowds of humans and reploids going about their daily lives. But it was all empty. Miscellaneous litter blew about the empty roads, and that was the only movement in the place.**

**Axl was increasingly grateful for the end of copy-chip production. Now that it was banned he was the only one who could legally copy reploid DNA, and the only other people would own a chip would themselves be Mavericks. Thus, no one would suspect that he was in fact Axl rather than someone else.**

**"Of course, they're going to figure that you'll show up, since they're so close to Maverick Hunter Headquarters."**

**Axl did remember X's warning. It was common sense. Axl was a little annoyed that he didn't think of that, but he reckoned that was why everyone worked together in the Maverick Hunters. X and Zero were sure to be somewhere close by. They couldn't come in as far as he could, but if anything went wrong, it wouldn't be long until they arrived to help.**

_**" - Alright, Axl. - " **_**Pallette's voice focused him at the task at hand. **_**" - You need to go into the Jenner Brands skyscraper up ahead to your left, then go down to the basement. That's where you'll encounter the Mavericks. I'm going to go into radio silence from here on out unless there's an emergency, so you'll be on your own. Good luck! - "**_

_**" - Piece of cake! I've done this plenty of times! See you when it's over! - "**_

**He had done it plenty of times, but not quite like this. The whole quarter of the city had been cornered off from the rest of Arcadia when the attack on Roll had occured, just to simply prevent the spread of the Maverick virus. Reploids had been tested throughout the rest of the city to make sure things were contained, and all the humans trapped in the quarantined area had to be rescued. It had been a sheer nightmare, but all of that had gone quickly. As X would say, they'd had a lot of practice doing tragic things. **

**Axl was not the sort of person to notice ambient danger. He blithely went into situations that would scare the normal reploid, simply not realizing how terrifying the circumstances really were. That was how Axl entered the Jenner Brands building. The place was trashed; a fountain in the middle of the lobby which must have once been lovely was now a smashed wreck of concrete. Dried dirt on the floor and smeared footprints signalled how far the spilled water had gone before the pipes were shut off. Other than a huge plasma blast in the front desk, it seemed untouched. And that was the only thing untouched. Axl was surprised that the building was still standing with all the broken tiles hanging down and the tense angle two large support beams were at. That was typical Maverick strategy: never stay in a place that you can't use as a trap against the Maverick Hunters.**

**"Hey you!"**

**Axl did a right face to the elevators. There stood a short Maverick, one that was about the size of a nine year old. He was boyish in every way, and blue-green emo bangs swept over his wide, light brown eyes. His armor was a light blue, and by his side he had a thin, deviously sharp fencing foil. If Axl wasn't trying to pretend to be someone else, he would have noted how adorable this reploid was.**

**"Yeah, what?" Axl answered, acting as "Maverick" as he could.**

**"You're supposed to be downstairs waiting on Spectral. She's gonna be here any minute and she wants the best fighters ready." His voice was nowhere near as adorable as he was, and sounded something between gruff and pouty. "You set up some guys to distract those stupid Hunters, right?"**

**"What do you take me for? Of course I did!" **

**Axl recalled a few Maverick mechaniloids they'd seen near the borders of the town. They were firing off shots at the Hunters and then scuttling away, leaving a very tedious fight to the border guards. That too was typical Maverick style. Axl guessed that was what the Maverick he copied had been doing before he destroyed him.**

**"Then let's hurry." the youth-ish Maverick huffed. "I'm not missing out on our new leader just for the likes of you."**

**Axl hadn't noticed before, but the elevator's doors were gone. Of course the electricity would have been cut to this part of the city, so the elevators were out of the question. That didn't bother boy-bot any, and he simply jumped down the empty elevator shaft, clunking against the ground as he landed. Axl jumped too. He wished he could use his hovering ability, but the Maverick he had copied didn't have one. That left him to jump down just as roughly as the Maverick. He hoped his shocks were up to it.**

**The young Hunter thudded to the ground, thankfully landing on his feet. **

**- Also Chapter 11**

**This brought Saturnine over to "Striker Longshot", and Axl was immediately nervous. He told himself he wasn't afraid of her, but anyone would admit that she was creepy. There was a reason such creatures were tucked into the deepest parts of the oceans. Unsure of himself, Axl decided that he'd better pretend to be a little bold. Malachite seemed to get away with it. She was staring at him pretty hard. Did she want him to do something? **

**Axl took one step closer. He glanced over at the others, who seemed as uncertain as him. He turned back, only to just see the end of the staff slam into his face, exploding his vision with ghostly electricity. Axl skidded back, hitting a wall. As the blue cleared, and Axl could see again, he found that he was staring at his own normal armor. There went that scheme.**

**"You see?" Spectral lifted her voice. "You also were too impatient to check for Hunter presense. I must admit I expected better from you, Malachite. It is good to know better now."**

**Axl immediately jumped to his feet, hoping that X and Zero would show up soon. He confidently aimed his gun at the others, trying to figure out the smartest way of getting out into the open where the odds would be more stacked in his favor. "Okay, fine, so ya caught me. So what?"**

**A little miffed for messing up, Malachite snapped, "Guys, kill him!"**

**"No, no, just grab him." Spectral glared down at Darling. "Will you for once think before acting? Don't think you're still in charge here."**

**Axl paid no attention to this exchange. He jumped at once from a cannon burst from Polliwog, but he couldn't jump too far without running straight into Fulgor's axe. Slant Macrocosm's parts floated over, and her comets joined in, making black craters in the wall where Axl dodged them.**

_**I've got to be quick!**_

**Axl jumped and hovered over the enemies grouped around him. He landed as soon as he was clear and ran straight for the elevator shaft firing a sheet of his plasma bursts to block off the enemies. If he could get outside then the other Hunters would see him and -**

_**Thunk.**_

**A chunk of metal hit him smack in the head, dropping Axl to the ground. His attempt to rise was blocked by the point of Darling Malachite's foil, aimed directly at his eye. Making matters worse****, his pistol had slipped out of his hand, and Darling was able eagerly snatch the weapon up off the floor, sticking it under his armor****. The other Mavericks surrounded Axl, and all he could do was notice that it was a piece of the ceiling's metal rails that had hit him.**

**"You're not going anywhere!" the boy-roid smirked. **

**"Aw, why do you show off so much?" Venom Pterosaur walked up behind Darling and joined the menacing circle. "I was waiting in the elevator shaft. He wouldn't have made it out."**

**"We can't take any chances."**

**"Why you-!" Venom huffed, flapping her wings. "You're not the only one that can fight around here!"**

**"Shut up, both of you, and bring him over to this wall so I can get a good look at him."**

**"Hey, let go!"**

**Axl wanted so much to fight hand to hand, but he knew better than to give in. Pallette was still monitoring him, and the longer he lived the more she would see. Plus, if he didn't struggle then there would be a greater chance of being able to escape when the time was opportune. **

_**X and Zero will come and help me...I hope...**_

**This plan started looking a lot less smart once Slant Macrocosm's parts separated, surrounding him like an electrical prison. Any gaps in her shield were filled with electrical stardust, giving the distinct impression that escaping was not going to be easy. Axl had a plan. None of this dissuaded him. He grinned despite himself. Let them think they won for now.**

**"Not bad for a bunch of impatient reploids, huh, Spectral?" Darling said. "We've got your Hunter all nice and wrapped up like a present!"**

**The angler-roid said nothing. She merely walked over, extending a bony hand down towards Darling. He gasped, obstinate.**

**"But..."**

**She flung her hand out again, and Darling huffily relented, handing over Axl's pistol. Spectral tucked it into her robes. With this she relaxed somewhat, finally able to pay her companions a compliment.**

**"Not bad at all." she said. "You are competent soldiers when someone gives you orders. You shall all do well."**

**The tall, skinny Maverick walked towards Axl, and the others departed to make room for her. Axl's resolve wavered too slightly for him to even notice. The thrill of the danger was more wonderful than frightening - and it certainly was frightening for the bony, sharp fingers of Spectral to wrap around his chin. She inspected him, and it took every ounce of self-control not to react as her sickly excuses for eyes peered over him.**

**"His mind is valuable to us." Everyone's ears pricked up as Spectral spoke. "You saw me come here with my new, more powerful teleporter. There is no need to remain in this place. We will retreat for now. Fulgor, bring the axe for this one's head. Once we have hacked into his CPU we shall have the teleport coordinates to Maverick Hunters itself. Time and time again the Hunters have proven the only barrier to my father and his goals. That will end now."**

**"No!"**

**Axl could restrain himself no longer. He engaged the Mole Spade, the weapon he gained from Spade Lentigo, and fired it off at Spectral and the incoming flamingo Maverick. He had no gun, but he could still toss the electrified rocks of the defeated Maverick. Slant Macrocosm was his next target, and by flinging the rocks at her sun, the shielding made from her parts wavered and dissipated, forcing her to return to her normal galaxy shape.**

**Saturnine slashed him across the face, bowling him over. **

**-Later in Chapter 11**

**For a moment, hope began to rise in him. Maybe he was right and everything would be fine. Maybe he was a stupid scientist and not a fighter-bot anymore. If that was the case, why couldn't he fix this? Pride grew in him, and he got up from the floor and started doing inventory on the tools for what he would need.**

_**" - Hey Roll, where are you? - "**_

_**" - I'm in the main research lab. Listen, Bass, I'm really sorry about earlier- - "**_

_**" - I don't care about that. Grab me a TC-315 power conduit from the supply room and come to research lab 9A. - "**_

_**" - Oh, why? - "**_

_**" - Just do it. You'll see when you get over here. - "**_

**With that, Forte lined up his tools, his concentration on the task only broken when Roll opened the door. She stood there speechless, power conduit in hand. Frozen in place, she could hardly speak. It took her well into a minute to find her words.**

**"Is that really what I think it is?" the stunned girl bot managed.**

**"Yeah, now get in here already."**

**Roll was immediately at Bass' side, perusing the tools with optimism. "So you can fix it?"**

**"I don't know. If I'm right then all it takes is plugging this in." **

**Bass took the conduit from Roll, examining it. Like other conduits, it was a long cylinder, about an inch in diameter, and bent at 90 degrees in the middle. It would fit a little awkwardly into the machine, but that wasn't a big deal.**

**"And if you're wrong?"**

**He tried to ignore the question, but he could still see Roll in his perifery, her innocent face clouded with concern. **

**"I don't know." he lied. "There's a good chance that this will work. I know the problem."**

**Bass wondered when he had learned to hate himself so badly for lying. His words seemed to comfort Roll, but he wouldn't look at her, and as best he could he pretended that this was because he was concentrating. That was sort of true. Bass wanted to get this as correct as possible, so all the concentration was sincere. That appeared to trick her.**

**With that, for the next five minutes it was all wires, conduits, circuits and cords for Bass. He got back down to the base of the capsule and started hooking everything up, praying under his breath that everything would work and that he wouldn't look like an idiot in front of Roll. He inserted the conduit with gentle care, clicking everything into place. There was nothing left but to back away and see if it would run.**

**A light blinked on the top, indicating that the mechanism recognised the rise in power. Just as it looked like it was working, all the lights cut off with a snap. **

**"No!" Bass yelled, glaring at the machine's innards and wondering where he went wrong. "No, no, no..."**

**But there was nothing Bass could think to do. It was too late to save Dr. Light. He knew of the possibility of being wrong, but now that it stared him in the face he lost control. He didn't want to believe it. With a hideous swear, he crumpled, burying his face in his hands. **

**Behind him, Roll gasped. Bass refused to move. He had lied to her and killed her creator. He would be surprised if he could look at her in the next decade. More than ever, he wished he was dead.**

**"Oh, now that felt strange."**

**In an instant Bass' head was up. There before them was the ghostly image of Dr. Thomas Light, wavering slightly as the holographic generators synced themselves. Once the hologram noticed who was near, his face lit up, happiest that Bass had ever seen him. **

**"Roll! Bass! Is it really you?"**

**Roll, who had been on the verge of tears the entire time, rushed up as she answered. "Yes, it's us! I thought I was never going to see you again!"**

**"What happened?" the hologram asked. "One minute everything goes dark, and after what feels like the longest time I awake to see the both of you!"**

**"Your hologram generator was broken." Bass explained. **

**"Yeah, and Bass fixed it!" Roll cheerfully added. "He's so wonderful!"**

**"You fixed it?"**

**The approving gaze of his mentor was worth more than gold to Bass. For once humble, he grinned sheepishly. "Eh, it wasn't that complex of a problem."**

**Dr. Light beamed. "I'm so proud of you. I didn't know that you were capable of something like this, Bass. You're always surprising. But how is it that you're here? After the apocalypse I didn't dare hope that any of you were alive..."**

**Bass let Roll explain. He just wanted to sit there and listen to Dr. Light's voice. For once it felt like the old days, and everything that happened before Dr. Light's death vanished. It was wonderful to forget, and to let go of all the pain of what he had done, or failed to do, was pure bliss. All the same, Roll was telling Dr. Light about X and the others. Bass wasn't the most observant of robots, but he could help but notice Roll wasn't telling that much about herself. It was as though she thought there wasn't much to tell.**

**"Hey Roll." Bass said. "This is your job."**

**"What do you mean?" She turned back to him curiously.**

**"Eh, well you always like taking care of Dr. Light a century ago, so why not keep doing it now?"**

"Part of me kinda regrets deleting that first scene." GrimMoody explained. "I liked how well it was written - it was a good inspiration day. However, it was taking too long to get to the mission, and overall this mission wasn't a big part of the plot. And after I wrote that deleted scene, I had so much trouble writing more afterwards, because I wasn't sure how this mission was going to go. Hence the second scene. Ugh, I just had to get rid of the second one. It really made the Mavericks look dumb, and that was a bad way to go when the Mavericks here are based on reviewers. Also, it really hurt the Darling Malachite character to not be more in control of the situation. Darling is someone who is strong and smart despite his appearance, and I didn't want him to look like just some cheesy upstart.

"For the last scene, that's just an alternate version of Roll finding out what happened to Dr. Light. I scrapped it because the conversation when Dr. Light was finally active was just too dull for me, and I wanted to give Bass a chance to talk to Light alone. It's more about him coming to grips with being a scientist than anything else. Also, I don't think Bass would want to risk things going wrong right in front of Roll."

"Hey Moody?" Gold asked. "Can I ask you some questions?"

"Sure thing, little floating head dude. What's on your minds?"

"Well, first of all," Silver asked. "Where's Roll right now? You took her into your in-between world, but we haven't seen her since."

Grimm cracked her neck as she remembered. "Oh yeah. Let's check on her."

The projector screen lit up with the image of Roll in a world full of swirling images. The only thing stable there was the metal walkway Roll stood on. Roll herself wasn't wearing the winter clothes anymore, but a long, green dress with no sleeves and a lace shawl. She looked up curiously.

"GrimMoody? Is that you? What's going on? I thought we were going to go fix everything like you said."

"Hey, chickie." Moody waved. "Yeah, we still are. I just had to do something first. Since this place is outside of time, the delay won't affect anything, so don't worry about that. Ah, I think you wandered into the part of my imagination that thinks up fancy outfits. Sorry I left you out there. You wanna come over where I am?"

Suddenly a puff of smoke appeared around Roll, and as the smoke blew away, it revealed Roll wearing an entirely different dress. It was a shimmering red dress with one strap that went over the shoulder. Most of the dress was simple, but the strap was a poofy frill, the only eccentric part of an otherwise classy style. Roll gasped with delight.

"No, I'm good!" she squealed. "Um, maybe I can stay here for a few more minutes..."

"Okay, have fun then. I'll find you when I'm done here." Grimm waved at the screen, and the image disappeared. "Hm, she's fine. Next question?"

"Where did your inspiration for this story come from?" Gold asked.

Silver piped up. "Where did your inspiration for _me_ come from?"

The author laughed. "Well, my inspiration for you, Ping, came from the reviewer Clzh and Clzh-X. He's since changed his name to something silly, but honestly it's hard to look at a name like that without thinking of floating robot heads. You're based more on the personality of Clzh-X, the crazier of the two personalities. As for this story, well, it's been planned out for a while. Well, I've had the idea for a while. Even back in Okkusenman I was thinking about something like this, but I wasn't sure if I was going to go as far as the X series. After watching a bunch of X game playthroughs on youtube, I kinda liked the characters and wanted to give them an opportunity to show themselves. But actually, I had so much inspiration at the beginning, but it got harder later because that inspiration ran out."

"We're not inspiring enough for you?" Gold said. "We can do an interpretive dance if it helps."

"Nah, thanks. It was my fault. I had so much inspiration for the beginning that I didn't have a clear vision for the end. I didn't even expect Afterlife to last this long as a story. I had the first...eh, like four chapters up in my head, and the scene where Roll and Bass talk on the side of the cliff, but there wasn't much besides that. I mean, I did a fair amount of improv work for the other stories, but for this one it didn't work out as well. I was losing confidence because of some hard reviews to boot. I guess I should take it as a sign people care a lot about my fiction, but still.

"Bah, I'm too sensitive sometimes. I don't mind people so much correcting me or pointing out what they think is wrong, but I don't like to feel like I'm being attacked or disrespected. I think at least one of those hateful reviews was due to an irrelevant disagreement on a completely different topic, but yeah. I would like to thank Laryna6 and Kaelenmitharos for their their extra support. Kaelen backed me up and really gave me the confidence to continue, and Laryna actually came out and questioned my choices with Alia's character in a pm. Replying to her affirmed my choice, but also gave me a firmer basis for Alia's nature and inspired Alia's actions in later chapters. It was really cool."

"What was the deal with Alia anyway?" Silver started bouncing from his chair to Gold's. "Why was she being such a jerk?"

"Long story short, her history with Gate kind of scared her." GrimMoody made a hot mug of coffee appear in her hands, and she took a long drink. "Yums. Anyway, the whole thing with Gate made Alia more afraid of people around her putting up with obvious threats. Gate wasn't safe, and the whole thing with Zero took her by surprise. I think most people's objections to Alia freaking out came from the lack of reaction from everyone else that knew about him. Signas isn't the sort of person to freak out, it would be insanely difficult to get X to hate Zero, and it's not in Axl's nature to freak out at first. His was more of a delayed reaction because he didn't put in much though about Zero being the source of the virus until later. Alia didn't get a lot of time in the games, but it just didn't seem like her to just let this sail on by without reaction. Besides, I always hate it in stories when authors present a conflict, but then just deflate it right off because none of the characters seem to care about it even though it was built up to be a big deal."

"Why don't people like what you did with Alia?"

GrimMoody shrugged. "I don't know. I think it's because they had their own ideas about what Alia is like, and they sort of expected me to follow that. Or maybe they just thought Alia wasn't the kind of person to freak out. Well, for the most part she is, but the trouble with her is we don't really get to see her too much, and I like how this reaction got her more plot time. We really don't get to see enough of her, not even in fanfiction."

"Besides adding more me to the plot," Gold said as he too joined Silver in bouncing in the chairs. "What would you do differently?"

Grimm took another sip of coffee. "I'm not sure. I'm tempted to go back and cut the length. This story was never about fighting or action, and I've got a lot of it in there. Way more than I expected. However, it just seems weird to me to have this story be nothing but talk, and it was important for Bass' character to have to relate to violence and his declining participation in it. Other than that, I just don't know. Maybe spare some of the Mavericks I created and use them later or something, I don't know. I hope it makes people happy that I used some of the reviewer Mavericks in the story. I couldn't use all of them, but yeah, there some are."

"Yeah, that would make this story way too gimmicky!"

"Totally gimmicky!"

GrimMoody chuckled. "Says the reviewer Maverick. Anyway, I'd also just be more confident. A lot of people seemed to have specific expectations for this story. You should listen to reviewers, but there are times when you just have to stand by the choices you made. I really liked a lot of things about the X series, but everyone seems to think I hate it. Not so, not so. As a writer, I treat the X canon with the same respect I would any other. Anyway, let me ask you guys a couple of things. Like, what's it like to be a Maverick?"

"It's not bad!" Gold replied, settling back on the top of the chair. "We get to fight stuff all the time. It's way better than being security reploids. That's what we were before, but we didn't get to zap people nearly as much!"

"Did you like how I used you in the story?"

"Sure!" Silver answered. "We got to beat up Bass, and we fought Axl! I wish we could've fought Zero."

"Why?" Grimm finished her coffee. "He would have kicked your butts."

"We don't have butts." Silver said, hovering in the air and turning around. "See?"

"Yeah, and he wouldn't kick us." Gold added. "He would swing at us with his saber and we'd fly like baseballs. Wheee!"

Ping promptly flung both his half at the back wall, and they laughed their buzzing guffaws as they fell down to the stage floor. GrimMoody looked down at her watch.

"Hey, you guys, I'm going to put up another deleted scene now. Come on and watch it."

"Sure!"

"Okay!"

**- From Chapter 13**

**Layer reached in to pet Mungo and see if she could get his hair to go down. It wouldn't, no matter how much she tried, but this only delighted Layer. She went to pet Jerry so that he would get a chance for some affection before she went back to sit down next to Zero again. A whining sounded as she sat, and it was Treble. He nosed her, whining more. Layer wrinkled her nose. This was Bass' dog, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to be close to it.**

**"You can pet him." Bass said. "He won't hurt you. He likes women."**

**Layer frowned. She didn't trust Bass at all, but if only to stop the whining she reached down and petted Treble. He wagged his tail, and Layer decided that she liked him. He was just too adorable to judge just because of his master.**

**Zero, noticing the dog, decided that he was going to pet him too. He went to reach out and pet Treble, only to have the wolf's fangs bare as he snapped at the readily available fingers. Zero immediately snatched away his hand, looking up to an evilly grinning Bass.**

**"Stay the hell away from my dog, Sis."**

**-t-**

**Layer was busily trying to pet down the tuft of fur sticking out from Mungo's head (it wasn't working, much to her delight), when Roll was bringing her another present. **

**"Oh, this is for me?" Layer took it. "And it's from...Zero!"**

**The navigator quickly went back to her seat to unwrap this one, and she carefully pulled off the wrapping paper without tearing it.**

**"Treble, can you push the piggies to the side, please?" Roll asked him. "I don't want anyone to trip on them."**

**"Rwoof!"**

**Treble slid the cage around the Christmas tree with his nose, then scooted it against the wall. That done, he sniffed at the things with curiosity, a little too much in fact. Bass saw this at once.**

**"Treble!" he ordered, pointing at the box that had once held his new rifle. **

**Whining slightly, the wolf nonetheless obeyed. He sat down next to the box and began to chew on it, rather than the little beasts. By this time, Layer had finished with her delicate unwrapping, and underneath it was a little box. Layer opened it, finding a delicate silver bracelet with with intertwining silver branches. Little garnets decorated the bracelet, as did tiny silver leaves.**

**"Oh, it's so beautiful!" Layer gushed. "Thank you, Zero!"**

**"I saw you looking at things like that during the inspection tour in Italy." he said. "I also got similar bracelets for Alia and Pallette. Do you think they'll like them?"**

**Though outwardly Layer smiled, her mind was groaning, cursing up a storm. But still she smiled. **

**"Sure, of course they will..."**

"Man, I really liked the Christmas bit. It was fun." Moody grinned. "It was just going on too long and I didn't want it to bog down too much of the story. That's the main reason those first two scenes got cut. As for the third, Zero might be bad at buying presents, but he's not that bad. I wanted to play with the crush drama that was going on, but this didn't turn out that great. It seems weird to me that Zero and Layer would work together this long without knowing knowing each other better. Zero might get Alia and Pallette generic presents, but not Layer, especially not after how the year went for Zero. This next scene I didn't have room for either, but I consider it canon to my plot."

**- From Chapter 13**

**Layer sat down at her station. She didn't like having to work on Christmas, but someone had to do it. Besides, it was about time Alia was able to go down and enjoy all of the decorations Roll had set up. Layer tapped the keyboard methodically, pulling up the reports and assignments. There wouldn't be too much to do today other than patrol, but since Mavericks seemed eager to spoil everyone else's fun, the threat was likely that they would do something, or at least try. The Hunters had to be ready. **

**The purple navigator glanced to her left. Pallette was still guiding some of the Hunters back as others would take their places, so that meant Layer had a few minutes to get aware of Arcadia's situation that day. So far everything seemed peaceful, but someone had to keep it that way. Layer reached into her inbox without looking, intending on pulling the top paper from it. That would be her normal patrol mission objectives, assuming that nothing was found. Instead of landing on a comfy pad of paper, her fingers jammed into something substantially more solid than air. She glanced over at it.**

**It was a box, wrapped up in purple and gold wrapping paper. The green ribbon on it was also trimmed in gold, cheerfully holding on the string tag. Lifting the tag, Layer saw that this was a gift to her from Zero. She glanced behind her. Zero was talking to Alia about something, and they seemed to be focused on something within a notebook. **

_**Must be mission reports or something.**_

**Layer gave the activity no more thought. She was too curious to just let this pass. She had a minute to unwrap the gift and see what it was. Gently she pulled away the ribbon and the paper. Underneath all the fancy wrappings was a journal. Its cover was leather, and the design imprinted on it was of an older style, calling back days long ago of antiques; a world now gone. A strip of purple knitted in the spine of the book served as a bookmark. Alongside the journal was a pen, but not just any pen. It was an older pen with a sharp tip. The inkwell that came with it also revealed the antiquity of the gifts. Curious, Layer opened the journal in the middle. The pages were unlined for greater freedom of script, and thick to prevent bleeding. **

**The navigator wasn't sure she understood why Zero had given this to her. She didn't keep a journal. Surely he knew that by now. She wasn't even sure that she liked this. Layer flipped through the pages, and as they stopped on the first page, she caught her breath. The words written there were in Zero's careful handwriting.**

**She read them silently.**

**"Layer. I'm always thankful that you are my navigator. You have been supportive for me this year when I needed it the most, and I appreciate you for it. Thank you, Layer. Hopefully you'll be able to fill this journal with all the good things that happen next year. Merry Christmas, 21XX. Zero."**

**Layer smiled, filling with a warmth that reached right down to her toes. This was as deep as Zero ever seemed to get, but it meant a lot. In fact, everything began to make perfect sense. This journal would never be something Layer picked out for herself. She was more interested in clean, modern designs. Zero was the one that liked older things. This was a gift from his heart. **

**A shadow fell over her workplace. She looked up and smiled. It was Zero leaning over the side of her desk. **

**"Thanks for the gift." Layer said, too nervous to say anything else. "I really like it."**

**Zero's smile was like a light rain in the spring, perfectly friendly. "I thought you would. What's the patrol for today?"**

**Layer handed him the assignment paper, letting him review it as always. As they both went over the locations, resources, and Hunters chosen, Layer couldn't help but feel like today was still Christmas, even though they were working. She let her eyes slip from the computer to look at the leather journal once more.**

_**He really doesn't know me that well at all.**_** she chuckled inwardly. **

"So there you go!" GrimMoody announced. "That's the deleted scenes I got for you this time. Hey Ping, what say we check on our good friend Signas and the guy-we're-going-to-get-a-restraining-order-on Sigma?"

"Yeah!"

"Double yeah!"

With that affirmative, GrimMoody went over to the projector and wiped her hand across it again. Once more the redneck country pub came into view, and all three viewers were amazed to see that Sigma and Signas were sitting next to each other at the bar, laughing their heads off. Bottles littered the bar, and both brother each held another in his hand. Somehow, Sigma had found a black sombrero with complex gold beading, which dazzled atop his head.

"Oh crap," Moody backed away from the screen. "Somebody invented reploid alcohol..."

"Man...hey, hey seriously," Sigma slapped Signas on the back, leaning back and forth as he spoke. "I would..would totally infect you with the virus."

"Really?" Signas said. "You mean it?"

"You...you're my brother, and if I can infect that...those...that...sssstupid Flame Hyenard..."

Sigma stopped, thunking his bottle down on the bar. Scratching his head with the apparently difficult effort of trying to remember what he was saying.

"Then...that means I can let you be in my club too!" Sigma proudly finished, taking a long drink to celebrate.

"That...that actually means a lot to me." Signas attempted to cover his mouth as he burped, but the effort was useless. "Excuse me. Anyway, it always seemed like you avoided giving me the virus all these years because...well, I replaced you. I know that this is silly, but...thanks."

"I love you too, Exuh...Esselssior...guh, your first name is too complicated."

Sigma waved his hand as if to dismiss the name, forgetting that this was the hand holding his beer. It sloshed out over the counter before slipping out of his hand. It crashed to the floor with an explosion of foam and glass. The drunken Maverick master stared at this as if it were a complicated puzzle.

"...I broke my beer."

The commander rolled his eyes and took another drink. "I'll admit I never cared for your first name either. How can you name a fighter reploid 'Luminous'?"

"I know! And like...like...I don't glow or anything! You'd think I would with a name like that. Our dad sucks at naming things." Sigma slammed his fist into the counter, hollering, "BEER ME, FOUL HUMAN!"

The bartender, out of sight of the perspective of the vision, slid another brown bottle down the bar. Sigma ripped off the bottletop and started to chug. Signas thought a moment about trying to get Sigma to stop drinking, but then he just shrugged.

"Ahaaha!" GrimMoody laughed. "Oh man, the dudes are drunk!"

"I am not." Signas retorted. "This is my third beer. My esteemed brother, on the other hand...well, let's just say it's a good thing he's an excellent drunk."

"Really?"

"Oh yes, he's quite sociable in this state."

"I wish this bar had like...a karaoke box or something. Er, juke box. Yeah." Sigma started spinning his bottle on the counter. "I like that song Friends in Low Places."

"This is silly, but I actually like that song as well." Signas admitted.

"Hey, wait...wait, that song is true!" Sigma exclaimed. "You do have friends in low places! I live in low places! What a deep song!"

Sigma's bottle slipped out of his hand as he spoke, shattering as it hit the floor. He surveyed the fallen beer with dismay.

"Oh, foul human!" he called in a sing-song voice.

A female voice called out in reply as another beer headed their way. "You two are lucky this is a slow night."

"I take it you guys are friends now." Moody said. "Hehe.."

"As close as we can be." Signas shrugged as he eyed the drunken Maverick. "Axl always did say that the only good Maverick was a dead one, and well, Sigma is dead now. Hey wait, now that you're changing the timeline so that the Maverick Wars never happen, does this mean I'm dead as well? After all, I was created as a result of the wars."

"Er, well...no..." GrimMoody nervously cracked her fingers. "Nonexistant is a little bit different from dead..."

"Just great. Can I at least get out of this bar now?"

"Eh...sure."

The country pub view shut off, and instantly Sigma and Signas reappeared onstage. Signas waved Ping's gold head away from a chair to go sit down, but Sigma was otherwise preoccupied.

"Where is my drink, foul human brew wench?" Sigma shouted. "And bring me a juke box!"

"Yeesh. That's not funny anymore." Moody said. She clapped her hands twice. "You are now undrunk!"

With a lurching snap, Sigma straightened, his eyes wide as dinner plates. He groaned and rubbed his head.

"Ugh, what happened?" he asked as he pulled off his hat. "I don't remember...what was I doing? And why do I have this headache? Where did this sombrero come from?"

"I dropped an anvil on your head." the author explained with a grin.

"That doesn't explain the sombrero."

"Yes it does. Now go sit down, we're at the end of the show. I'd like to say thanks to Queen Sunstar, Goddra2, Tylterra, FanFicGuy, Josunurashima, Lalalei, Anmynous, and MungoJerry for following along with my series for so long. Thanks for the commentary, though! Oh, and hey, you guys don't need to apologize for not reviewing. It's not like you're required to review, though it is nice. While I'm at it, does anyone else have any comments for the reviewers?"

"You will all fall in the reploid revolution." Sigma hissed at the camera once he was settled into his chair and the sombrero was tossed aside. "Especially YOU, Gabigirl. After her, Jade Ryuuseigun will be next. I will personally murder you both! Er, I would if I weren't dead, that is. You were lucky this time! ShadowNeko! Teribane! How could you possibly support this trash that GrimMoody calls a story? You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

"Ignore him." Signas muttered. "I almost wish it was canon that someone invented reploid beer. Sigma is much more tolerable drunk. Anyway, thank you for reading this, GlassSuicune, ShadowFox777, Vienrider, Loneseason, Thomas, DarkHydra, and Seventh Shade. I'm glad that you enjoyed this work, and don't worry about Sigma. I'll keep him under control."

"We like your name, Symphonic Sweet!" Ping danced around the stage. "We like to say it a lot! Symphonic Sweet! Symphonic Sweet! We like you too, Laryna! But we don't like you, Kae-len-mi-tharos. Your name is not fun to say at all!"

"Hey, watch what you say about reviewers!" GrimMoody glared. "Best watch it, Ping. Anyway, thanks to all the people that favorited and did author alerts for my stories. I really appreciate all of you. And that's it for today's show! Goodbye, everyone! See you in the epilogue!"

With that, the stage and all three guests vanished away, fading out as the inbetween world reappeared. Roll stood there, dressed in a fabulous red ballgown. There was no end of glistening sequins and gemstones all over her poofy dress, making her look something between a princess and a cupcake. Princess won the final round with the marvelous tiara sitting atop Roll's magnificent updo.

"Hey, don't you look spiffy?" Moody said. "But it's time to go now. We've got to get you back to the place where we can set things right."

With a clap of her hands, Moody made the ballgown disappear, replaced instantly with the winter clothes that Roll had been wearing before. The housekeeper-bot pouted a little, but she recovered quickly, stiffly nodding her head. She silently acknowledged her readiness.

"Okay, chiquita." GrimMoody said. "Start walkin'. We've got a mission to start."

"When this is over, can I have some of these dresses?"

"I'll think about it."

\\\\\\\\\

X

**"One day we will have the future we always dreamed of!"**

Good point: caring

Bad point: sometimes depressed

Likes: Mario games

Dislikes: hurting others

X is like Mega Man in the sense that you don't really know him as well as the others, because you fight from his perspective. He's a little easier to tell, what with his not liking war and whatnot. I put hurting others rather than war for his dislike because it's more personal, and X is the type of person who wants to bless, not hurt. He feels things at a deeper level than any other robot in the Mega Man series. I sort of dislike X for being a whiner, but it makes perfect sense in the context of the games. For someone who was not intended to show up in the X series at all (originally, Zero was the one being considered for the part), he's actually pretty well thought out as a character. If they come out with an X9, they really need to give him a new plotline. We've had enough experience with him mourning wars and mourning the many losses of Zero. I mean, come on, this is the X series.

Zero

**"I never considered myself a hero."**

Good point: confident fighter

Bad point: hides his fears

Likes: Japanese culture

Dislikes: nosy people

Zero is really cool. He's pretty much stolen the X series from X, particularly after X5. For someone whose plot has always been sort of up in the air (they had to find a place for him since X was going to be the Mega Man), he's been really interesting. I like to imagine the normal Zero, the one who isn't fighting. What does he do in his free time? I figure he's into Japanese culture because of all his weapon gets are in japanese. To me, Zero's very peaceful when not fighting, and likes to do things on his own, particularly if X isn't around. X is the one that gets him to be more social. It's necessary for Zero, because he's more task oriented than people oriented.

Axl

**"My trigger finger is starting to itch!"**

Good point: optimistic

Bad point: gun happy

Likes: dogs

Dislikes: idle thoughts

Axl may look like a kitty but he acts like a puppy: he's cute, overaggressive, and loyal. This character might have annoyed some people when he showed up on the scene, but I attribute that to the general suckitude of X7. I got his dislike from X8, where he's the only one that can really deflect the poisonous words of Lumine at the end. Lumine's ranting doesn't get to him because in a way he's a simplistic robot, and he doesn't really get complex philosophy, or why it's particularly necessary. He sees the world in a more black and white sense, without troubling himself too much by thinking of the troubles and debates that X is always going on about. He enjoys the present, and he thinks that as long as people just be kind to each other, then everything will be okay. His personality never really lets him think of negative things, for long, anyway. He doesn't deliberately ignore them, he just doesn't dwell on things.


	17. Epilogue

"We're here, Roll."

The girl-bot looked around, mildly confused. They were standing there in a hospital. Or at least it sort of looked like it. Everything was bending and waving strangely, only giving vague impressions of the things included in a house of healing. To make it worse, things looked all strange and pixelated. It was sort of like looking at images through an old, crackling TV screen and underwater at the same time.

"What is this place?" Roll asked. "Is this more of the In-Between world?"

"Yeah, but it's closer to your world." GrimMoody affirmed. "This is the place where you're going to say the magic words that will reverse time and enable you to stop the Maverick War from ever happening."

"Right! I'm ready!" an enthused Roll exclaimed. "Er, magic?"

"Yeah, magic. Now close your eyes and repeat after me. 'Rock, take the right elevator'."

The housekeeper blinked, her innocent blue eyes pinched in doubt. "That's it? No incantations or anything?"

"Pssht. Don't question my magic. It's magic! I'm the dang author and you'll do as I say. Now go on."

Roll nodded, weirded out by the author. She had trusted GrimMoody this far, so there was no point in stopping here. If there was anything that Roll didn't want, it was to go back to the other future and await what "Dr. K" had planned for her. Being stranded in the In-Between didn't seem like much fun either, so she took a deep breath and pressed her eyelids down firmly, speaking as if the words she had to say were a lot more dramatic than they really were.

"Rock...take the right elevator."

"What? Huh? What was that?"

A small but heroic robot in blue armor turned around, searching for the source of the mysterious words. They didn't seem to come from anywhere in particular, but they were so quiet that it had to have come from somewhere close. Mega Man walked a bit up and down the hall. There was no one there.

"Funny...that sounded sort of like Roll." Mega shook his head. "I need to get my auditory receivers checked. Oh well."

The blue bomber returned to the elevators. He got there just in time to see the left elevator doors close and the elevator pass him by. Shrugging a little, Mega Man just pushed the down button again. He was a patient robot. The next elevator would come soon. He let himself have a look back at Dr. Cain's room. He had just checked on the villain to make sure he was okay and that he wasn't going to be a problem in the future. The poor human was badly hurt by the explosion of his lab. The final battle Dr. Cain had caused didn't end well for him. Mega Man hoped that Cain would learn his lesson and never try to operate instant death spikes again. It wasn't a good idea to try and fill an entire room with them.

"Alright, I just have to file some papers with the nurses downstairs and I'm all set!" Mega Man said outloud, a little more happily than he felt. The papers were for Dr. Light's last stay in the hospital, and it was hard for Rock to think of that time, raw as it was in his mind. But he shook it off. He was going to have to go on living well without his creator to honor Dr. Light's memory. He was up for the task.

The right elevator opened, and out stepped two bizarre figures. One of them was an older man with bushy grey hair and a beard, his eyes hidden behind sunglasses. The other was a man whose awkward body was covered by a large, brown trenchcoat and a hat that didn't settle completely on his head. The popped up collar of the coat covered his face. At the sight of Mega Man, both of the figures froze.

"Hm?" Mega Man was confused. "Can I help you with something?"

"Uh...no, we are fine, thank you." The older man said with a thick Austrian accent. "We're just visiting someone. It is _so amazing_ to get to see a hero like you!"

"Aw, shucks." Mega laughed. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I've got some business downstairs."

The second person held the elevator doors open for Mega Man, and the blue bomber quickly scuttled in before the doors closed on him.

"Thanks!"

"No problem!"

The others walked away, and the doors began to close. At the very last second, Mega Man put out his hand again to stop them. He just knew that he'd heard those two voices before. Who could they be? Mega Man figured it wouldn't hurt to ask. He tried to remember where he met them.

_Maybe it was at that one press conference, or at a carnival or something. The older guy sounds a lot like the man at the ring toss..._

He went down the hall, following their footsteps back to the rooms. They were heading for Dr. Cain's room, and that left even Mega Man suspicious. He didn't know that Dr. Cain had any friends (his police report said otherwise), so he guessed that the pair might be his accomplices. Trying to thing the best of things, Mega Man hoped that they were some distant relatives. It would be nice for Dr. Cain to not be alone. In any case, the pair reached Dr. Cain's room before Rock did, so Rock just listened at the door.

Waking and looking up at the surprising guests, Nikola croaked weakly, "What do you want?"

"Hello there! How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. Go away."

"You're hardly polite. I really think you should be in this situation."

"Uhnn...leave me alone." Dr. Cain attempted to turn away, but moving only pained him. "Ow...who are you guys anyway? You're not the doctors here."

Dr. Wily pulled off his beard and sunglasses with glee, only happy to answer his question. "I think you might recognise me from TV."

"Dr. Wily? You're still alive?" Mega Man had his buster out at once, aiming it at Wily. "That means back to prison with you!"

The evil doctor turned around, brimming with hate as he let out a rather nasty swear. "Mega Man...how? Our disguises were perfect! Cut Man, distract him!"

The trenchcoat and hat fell from Cut Man, for that was indeed who it was, as he cut his way out of the unfitting clothes. "I'll chop you up good, Mega Boy!"

"Whatever all of you do," Dr. Cain groaned, pushing the call nurse button now that Wily wasn't looking. "Could it be somewhere else? You people are loud and I have a headache!"

"Whiner." Wily scoffed, wishing that Mega Man wasn't standing in the doorway. "Well, Mega Man, you can't fight us here without endangering your little prisoner. What's it going to be?"

Nervous, Mega Man looked from face to face, from Wily's evil grin, Cut Man's narrow eyes, and Dr. Cain's aggravated expression. He didn't know what to do. Thinking quickly, he teleported out.

"He's teleported just outside the building." Cut Man reported.

"You get down there and stop him from getting to me!" Wily hissed. "I've got to make a break for the skull capsule."

"Right!"

An orange light went up into the air, and Wily started to run. He crashed into the nurse Dr. Cain had called up, but wasn't delayed more than a second as he just shoved her aside and headed for the stairs. Rushing down them with his mind dizzy from curses and ways he wanted to hurt his enemy, he didn't even notice that he was running straight into Mega Man until it was too late.

"GAH! No! No way!" Wily started with an abrupt temper tantrum. "I had everything planned and ready! I worked too hard for this!"

"Well, you worked hard enough to go to prison for a long time!" Mega Man retorted. "And now that we know you're trying to mess with Dr. Cain, we can nip that plan in the bud right now! Just come quietly, Doctor."

-t-

Outside the hospital, Cut Man hastily looked back and forth. This was the spot that he had traced the blue bomber to, but the heroic robot was nowhere in sight. Cut Man searched in all directions, but the parking lot only held cars and people.

"Augh!" Cut Man exclaimed. "He must have changed his teleport frequency so I'd trace it wrong! Wily's in trouble now!"

That was definitely the truth. Cut Man tried to run back inside the hospital to search for his master, desperately wishing that inward teleports weren't being blocked, but he only made it in time to see Mega Man hauling a firmly handcuffed Wily out the door with one of the hospital's security guards.

"Dang! Okay, well I can at least rescue him so he can get away. Rock might cut me up, but it's for the master!"

That wasn't possible either. At some point Mega Man must have contacted his lab, because there arrived Bass, even as Cut Man was going over his options. Forte argued with Wily for a bit, as was their unique way of saying hello, before an uneasy Mega Man asked him to search for Wily's companion robot.

"Crap!" Cut Man, while not normally cowardly, knew he couldn't take on both robots at once for any amount of time. "I guess Wily does have to go to jail for now. I'll break him out later, but those idiots aren't going to get the skull capsule!"

The timber-bot ran off, going to do just that.

\\\\\\

Author's Notes:

- Dear China. Please allow me to express how scary your elevators are and how unpleasant it is to be smushed in the doors as they close in. Please increase the amount of time your doors stay open, as well as their sensitivity to there being a person in the way. Thank you for the interesting experience, but kindly attempt to change the methods of your elevator producers. Thank you. Sincerely, GrimMoody.

- Alright, just so you guys know, I've done a clean up edit of chapters 6-15 just for the sake of making the story better. Nothing has changed too much, but if you had a reviewer Maverick from chapters 6-10, I've added quotes to them. Now all the reviewer Mavericks should have quotes, and you can check it out if you like.

- Okay guys, I'm going to need a little break. I have started on my next story, and I'm going to be doing a lot of buffering, but I'm not going to post it for a while. I want to get some planning done, as this story suffered a bit from lack of planning. I have a fairly good idea of what I'm going to do next, but I have to balance all of the ideas. I think you're going to get a really good story next. It just might be the best one. Anyway, expect to see that sometime in January. Until then I'll be buffering or being lazy. :D Enjoy this teaser until then.


	18. The Return

"What do I do now? I said the words...I...I can't open my eyes!"

Roll, frightened, fought as hard as she could to pull her eyelids apart. It was as if someone had sewn them together. That frightening imagery alone made Roll try harder. She put her hands to her eyes, but no, there wasn't any stitching there. Nothing physical was holding her eyes shut, and this only scared her more.

"Someone help! GrimMoody!"

And then her eyes snapped open, all at once from the effort. The author was nowhere to be found, but at the sight of everything around her, Roll forgot all about the time she had spent with X and Zero. This wasn't Maverick Hunter Headquarters, nor was it a barren street outside of Arcadia. This was her room, right there in Light Laboratories. The bed with its red quilt on it (Roll never used it, but she had insisted on having one), her long mirror on the wall, her flower wallpaper, her vanity with hair accessories, and finally her closet, full yet perfectly organized with all of her favorite things.

Gasping with delight as she reaquainted herself with all of her worldly possessions, Roll's perifery caught sight of the mirror.

"That's right!" she exclaimed. "Let's see if this has changed back too..."

It had. No longer did Roll have on a flowery blouse or winter clothes, but her normal, simple red dress and green hair ribbon. Stretching out her arms, Roll saw that her arms were again thin, feminine, and delicate, with absolutely no trace of a buster. Simply delighted, Roll twirled around, giggling in amazed delight. As if requiring further proof, Roll shut her eyes and listened with her radio recievers; the air, once filled with news of Maverick attacks, was now filled with friendly chatter as the news announced the weather and a piece on puppies rescued from a house fire.

"It worked!" she cried out. "It absolutely worked! Oh, thank you so much!"

This was addressed to the author, but there was no response. Roll wasn't worried about getting one. She had so much to discover that she simply couldn't wait around. She ran from her room, delighting herself in every hallway, room, and decoration that made Light Laboratories a home. Her jolly running brought her to the main lab, where she saw Bass. He was sitting on a computer chair, immersed in a book called The Compact Guide to World Religions. Treble was at his feet, calmly trying to resist chewing on any spare wires.

Noticing movement, Bass looked up and immediately sneered. Roll's stare was wide-eyed, touched by the slightest of hopeful smiles. It was as if she was waiting for something.

"What the hell are you looking at?"

Bass' sour reaction didn't even touch Roll. She just laughed wholeheartedly and clapped her hands with delight.

"You're a selfish jerk again! That's so wonderful!"

Bass was starting to get a sinking feeling that this was going to be one of those things that would make him have to put his book down. Roll's attention departed from him without acknowledging his reaction, turning instead to an equally confused dog.

"Treble! You're such a good boy! Come here!"

Roll beckoned for him. Treble looked at his master uncertainly (Bass had no answer for him), but in the end he walked cautiously toward her, wagging his tail a little. As soon as he was near enough, Roll covered his face in pets and kisses. Pleased with the attention, Treble merrily nosed at her and knocked her promptly on her posterier. Roll only giggled more, continuing her affection uninterrupted.

"Aw, you're such a good puppy!" Roll gushed. "I'm going to go get you a bolt! How would you like that, huh? You're such a good boy!"

Treble wagged his tail even harder, barking with delight. Appalled at the whole thing, Bass rolled his eyes and glared at his dog.

"You're such an attention whore."

Treble turned back and gave a huffy bark back. Let Bass call him what he wanted. He was going to get a bolt!

"Seriously Roll, you're not glitching or something, are you?" Bass was disdainful. "Didn't you get a scan yesterday?"

"What? Roll-chan's having errors?" Another voice called out. "That sounds like a job for...ME!"

Roll immediately got back on her feet. She knew that voice. It was the same peppy and cute voice that Roll hadn't heard in over a decade. Much to Roll's delight, it was indeed Crystal Bot, the jolly technical girl. The newcomer approached the group with her same smile, just as shiny as the orbs built into her helmet, arms, and legs.

"Sona-chan!" In an instant, Roll had her arms around Crystal's neck in a tight hug. "You're not dead!"

"Uh, well yes, not yet, I'm happy to say." Crystal winked, a little unsettled as she gently pushed Roll away. "Hehe, personal space now. Um, are you feeling different today or something...?"

Roll felt perfectly happy, and she deflected the question with a happy one of her own, delightedly hopping. "Hey Sona, you know what we should do?"

"Uh, what?"

"We should get our band together! The Digital Sweethearts!" Roll practically screamed with delight. "You have your guitar with you, right?"

"Don't I always?" Crystal started to grin. "Splash Woman isn't here to do vocals though."

"We can at least have a jam session then! Oh! My keyboard! I wonder if I still have it...well of course I do! I still have everything else so why wouldn't that be there too? Oh, it's so wonderful to have my home and my room and my friends again! Everything is finally wonderful again!"

Crystal squealed in hilarity. "Eeee! I like Error Roll! She's fun!"

"I'm not your friend." Bass' fangs sprouted in Roll's direction. "And furthermore-"

"AUTO!" Roll did scream this time, making the other robots present jump. "You're home too!"

Without another second of even pretending to listen to Bass, Roll ran across the room and practically smacked right into Auto. She delightedly hugged him, then started on a tirade of questions for the green repair-bot and what he was doing on his latest project. Treble, annoyed, began to nose at Roll's legs and whine. He hadn't forgotten about the promised bolt. However, Roll just smiled down at him and patted him once more before returning to listen to Auto talk about his upgrades for the lab's security system.

"Aaah! There's Rush!"

Roll ran away again, leaving Auto in the middle of his speech on how to operate a proper burglar alarm. He glanced at the others and they only shrugged. Roll was too happy playing with Rush to even care about the concern of the others - playing with Rush was a lot easier with his smaller size. Treble barked and interrupted, and Rush went up to him and barked twice curiously. Treble answered his question with one firm, annoyed whine. At that, Rush returned to Roll and started yipping. He wanted a bolt too.

Roll laughed. "Okay, okay, you can have one too, Rush. You're both such good dogs!"

"Hey Rock!" Bass yelled towards an open hallway, getting too weirded out by everything. "Your sister's on crack!"

"Bass, what are you talking about?" Mega Man's voice echoed into the lab, growing louder as he neared the room.

Roll froze, completely unable to move. Her gaze was focused solely at the hall, watching as the one person she missed most in the world entered. Rock's wide, unassuming eyes ran about the room at the others. He looked just as innocent and happy as he did the very first day Roll had been activated and she met him for the first time. His eyes finally settled on his little sister.

"Is everything alright?"

With a high pitched squeal and a dash flying his way, Mega Man was the next victim of Roll's vicious hugs. She clung tightly, on the verge of happy tears.

"Everything is just fine, Rock! Just fine!" Roll's voice managed with only a little cracking. "Everything is just perfect again!"

"Hey, I think I know what's going on with Roll." Crystal Bot piped up, doing her best to sound stern. "You know this one, Forte. I've been teaching you about technology and I expect you to get it right!"

Crystal was joking, but Bass glared at her anyway. She was attempting to take the same tone with him that he took with her during the crystal girl's fight training. He took that tone an unfortunate amount of the time, about equal to Crystal's mishaps. Realizing that his technician wasn't going to say anything or let him off, Bass grudgingly took a moment to think about the answer.

"Uh...wait, yeah, it's that thing where a robot goes through a traumatic event and then their...emotional pattern control goes nuts. Right?"

"Ding, ding, ding!" Crystal Bot clapped her hands. "Yay! You got it right! Hey Roll, you don't mind if he fixes it for you? I want him to learn how."

Roll finally let go of one side of her brother, holding onto him with a tight side-hug as she faced Crystal. She laughed. "What do you mean? Everything is wonderful! What traumatic thing could possibly have happened?"

Crystal Bot opened her mouth to speak, but hesitated. She winced painfully, staring down at her feet. Bass cursed sharply, grabbing his book and storming for the door - not without once looking back to glare at Roll and shoot back a few daggers. Treble growled at her before following his master, and Rush's tail went limp as he settled moodily on the floor. Auto turned to face the computer, not letting anyone see his expression. Roll timidly looked at her brother, only to find that Rock too was silent and brooding. He sighed.

"Roll..." he said, unable to look at her. "I know you've been taking this pretty hard, but...I didn't think it would be this bad. It's only been two weeks since we lost him."

Then, and only then, did it strike her. Roll's arm dropped from around Mega Man, and she settled on the floor, numbly letting the knowledge take hold. Dr. Light was still dead. Everything else was the right and as it should have been but for one thing. Roll had her lab, her friends, and her brother, but her creator was still gone. Roll pulled her hands over her face, weeping the few glitches that she could.

"Um...I think that's worse than Forte-kun can fix." Crystal Bot said sadly. "Um...maybe you'd better get that, Auto."

"No, I've got it." Mega Man lifted his sister from the floor. "I remember how to fix this, at least. Auto, hand me the datacore."

"Sure. Here you go, Rock." The green robot solemnly handed him a small electronic pad and the cord that went along with it. "You'll be okay, Roll."

Roll wasn't so sure. All she wanted was for Dr. Light to be alive again. She shook with anger, not even noticing as Mega Man pulled her to her feet.

_I've dealt with the hologram! _Roll wanted to scream. _It's not good enough!_

Still glitching, she let Mega Man lead her away into one of the individual laboratories, where a sensitive piece of machinery could be worked on separate from other projects. Rock knew that his sister was feeling very sensitive at that moment and it would be better to get her away from the others.

He plugged the datacore into her neck with the cord. The datacore was a fairly small handheld device, about twice the size of a top-line calculator. The cord that reached out from it was the only way it could be connected to other computers. It was specially designed for detailed data work on individual robots. He directed Roll to the lone repair table, and she obediently sat there, quietly twiddling her thumbs. She glanced over at the outside window. The same trees she remembered were still there, gently providing a pleasant country view for the lab.

"Wow, Roll, this is really bad." Rock was stunned by the data showing up on the device's small screen. "When was the last time you had a proper EMSI scan? You're a mess in here."

"I...I didn't want to bother Dr. Light with it..."

"I know you were worried about him, but that's no excuse for not taking care of yourself." Mega Man said gently as he sat next to her. "Dr. Light wouldn't want you to feel this way. Hold still, this will only take a minute."

Roll didn't move. She sat there, just holding her hands in her lap and thinking of nothing. There was nothing she wanted to think about. On their own, her thoughts returned to GrimMoody and why she had sent Roll back. In disgust, Roll cast aside those thoughts. She didn't care why the author had sent her back, not anymore. What possible task was could she complete without Dr. Light? She needed help. She couldn't exactly tell anyone that an author put her several years back into the past in the hopes of preventing the extinction of man and robotkind.

"Are you keeping up, Roll? How are you feeling?"

"It's not bad." she referred to the process being done. "I feel sort of exhausted though."

"You need to take some energy pellets. Hm, I guess it could be worse on here." Mega Man pushed more buttons on his datacore, before handing it to Roll. She only gave it a cursory glance before placing it on her other side of the repair table.

"Roll," Mega Man said, becoming more serious. "Tell me how you're _really_ feeling. Not data or anything. I'm here to help, whatever you're going through."

"I...I don't know." Roll managed to meet her brother's eyes. "I'm just...tired. Of everything. Without Dr. Light, everything is so confusing. I...just don't know what to do with myself."

"I know what that feels like." Mega Man smiled knowingly, letting loose the expression after a moment. It was hard to feel cheerful. "This has been really bad for all of us, Roll. You'll know what to do with yourself soon. You're very talented."

She just leaned her head against Mega Man's shoulder. There were so many things she couldn't tell her brother, for so many reasons. What would he say if he knew about X, the Mavericks, and the Hunters? She could tell him about how lost she felt, but when it came to putting words to her heart, nothing would come. She wasn't even sure if she wanted to talk about it. So Roll said nothing. Her mouth hung a little open in the attempt as if her voice would speak for her and just say something, but nothing came out.

Mega Man let his sister rest on his shoulder as he pondered Roll's issues. It couldn't be easy for her to just let go of their creator. She had spent her whole life taking care of him, so going on without him meant that she had to find a new purpose entirely. Of course this transition would be the hardest for her.

"We still have to go on." he said. "We're his legacy, and we have to make sure that everything turns out just like Dr. Light always dreamed it would. We can't be unhappy like this for too long. I mean, I still have to go out there and protect Monstropolis, and you..." Rock paused, interrupting himself with a realization. "Hey, is that why you're acting so weird? Is it hard for you to stay home and feel like you're not doing anything to protect the world?"

That wasn't exactly it. Roll wondered if that was true for a moment, but that didn't seem to be the case. It wasn't the real point of her problem. She had always taken care of Dr. Light not as a favor to science, but because she loved him as her father. Any given day scrubbing, washing, and dusting was all fun when Dr. Light was there getting the benefit. Roll, however, didn't feel up to explaining this. She merely nodded.

"Hey, don't be like that." Mega Man gently cuffed her on the chin. "Know that every day here you keep me and Auto hard at work. It's easier to go out into danger when one of the people I benefit is at home, always reminding me why I keep going. You mean a lot to me, okay Roll?"

She blinked, letting a smile creep back up on her face. So maybe things weren't perfect, but at least things were still good. She had her friends and home, and the world wasn't facing a war. That was much better than the future she had faced before.

"I guess I can't complain about everything." Roll sat back up. "Thanks, Rock. I feel a lot better now."

"I'm glad." he smiled back at her. "Now hand me that datacore. I need to make sure you're stable again."

Roll handed the little machine back to her brother, and he finished up with more button mashing and data readings. He glanced at Roll, holding back his desired sigh. She was going through a lot, and he had the feeling that it was more than she had said. He didn't want to push the matter and upset her, but all the same he could clearly feel the burden of being the "man of the house". He wanted desperately to make sure Roll was just as happy as she had been when Dr. Light was still living.

"Roll, everything's going to be alright." he said, wondering which one of them he was trying to reassure more.

Roll's head shot straight up from her brother's shoulder, and she stared into his eyes with a certain fear. There was an awkward moment until she finally spoke. Her resolve was wavering, but her voice was final.

"You promise?"

Mega Man began to wonder if he would ever understand his sister. What was she so afraid of? Why did she stare at him with so much emotion in her eyes when he said that? What was going on in her mind? All Mega Man knew was that the poor girl was suffering far too much. He had to do something about it. Mega Man could hardly guarantee that the future would be perfect, but how could he tell her no?

"Yes, Roll." he said. "I promise."

Roll was silent as Mega Man finished the scan and synaptic reallignment. She stared down at her hands as the data rearranged itself in her head, and Rock's worry for her only grew. This didn't seem like his sister. What had happened to her?

Noise from the outside caught Roll's attention, but Mega Man disregarded it. He knew Forte's footsteps when he heard them, and for the moment he was more concerned with fixing some of these errors in Roll's emotional AI. He wasn't attempting to ignore the outside sounds, however, so he did notice the conversation.

"Sonata." Bass said. "Let's get the hell out of here. I need to get back to Russia. Reyes will be here to inspect me in an hour and make sure I haven't kept any of the Cain-bot weapons, so be done with your stupid pipi by then. I don't want to have to stay here any longer than we have to."

"Bruce isn't stupid." Crystal Bot scolded. "But I'll be done here in a minute, anyway. Hey Trebby, what are you doing?"

Mega Man's mind was still on the data going back and forth on the pad in his hands, so he was paying less and less attention to the conversation outside. He barely registered the whining growls coming from out in the main lab. Roll, however, turned her head to listen.

"Oh, Rock, I better get that." Roll said, breaking him out of his trance. "I promised Treble that I would get him a bolt, and I don't want him to be unhappy. Am I done?"

"Er, not yet." Mega Man put down the data pad. "But if you think you need to, this can wait for a minute."

"Good." Roll unplugged the cord from her neck. "I'll be back."

Roll got up from the repair table. As she left, Mega Man felt a little despondent. He glanced after her a moment, then looked down at the datacore. Her readings, surprisingly, were showing mostly normal readings. A thing here or there was off, but from the data he saw he couldn't tell what was wrong. Slumping, Mega Man plopped the little machine down beside himself, where Roll had been sitting. It clacked carelessly against the metal repair table, and Rock ran his hands through his thick, wild hair. A sigh escaped him.

"I don't understand any of this at all..." he whispered, staring once more down at the data. "I don't know what's wrong with Roll...I'm out of touch..."

Mega Man hoped that Auto had some clue how to fix Roll. Her emotional relays were working too hard, and as much as he wanted to think he could, Mega Man didn't know how to repair them. He couldn't even tell what the source of the problem was. It had been so long since his lab assistant days that he was far behind in the times.

"Good boy, Rush!" Rock could hear his sister's giggling outside. "Don't knock me over, Treble! Haha! You dogs are so naughty!"

Mega Man smiled. At least she hadn't lost her happiness completely. He would have to hang on to his as well. Opening the door, Rock watched as Roll continued to pet the now contented dogs. They had their bolts, and were wagging their tails as they chomped down. Mega Man paid more attention to his sister's smile. She seemed just as content as the metal pets she watched. It warmed Mega Man to see her so happy. He would do what he could to keep her that way.

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Author's notes:

- Hey y'all, just a bonus chapter up. I'm writing up a buffer for the last story in this series, and I've got a couple more scenes I want to get done before I post the story. Also, this segment really does better at the end of Afterlife than at the beginning of a new story, especially considering that most of this is based on events that happened in this story and would totally throw off a new reader. So I figure I'll use it to say some announcements.

- My next story, like I said, needs a bit more work before I post it. I've got some good ideas going, and I'll hopefully have something nice for you. I have to write an introductory chapter and fill in some spots in the work I've so far done on it. I gotta say y'all, this story's looking really good so far. It's going to focus more on Mega Man, which is really necessary since all my other stories have been about other people, mainly.

Since this story is the finale of the series, I'm not limiting it to fifteen chapters (hopefully it won't be so long it loses interest), and I intend to do crazy things with all of the characters. My gimmick this go round is only going to be character profiles again, but people seem to like those. I kinda regret not doing it for Afterlife.

Anyway, I'll be posting my next story at the end of the month, so look forward to that! See you then!


	19. Chapter 7 and a Half

They were going today. Roll shuddered. She couldn't decide if she wanted to delay the trip until next week, or if she wanted to "rip the band-aid off fast" and just get it over with.

_I'm being silly. _ Roll shook her head. _Of course I need to go._

"Are you ready, hon?" Pallette asked. "Bass'll be here soon so you have a second if you need to get anything."

The first generation girl-bot shook her head and stepped onto the huge teleporter platform. This operations room wasn't the mass mission's room (the "horseshoe" as everyone called it), but rather the operations room for smaller mission and activities. Thus the teleporter platform wasn't as large as in mass missions, and there were only four workstations for navigators in this room. Still, the room was plenty large enough. It had to fit four computer terminals (two on each wall), the four counters that held up all the technology, and still have large enough walkways between them so that the Hunters could pass behind the navigators and get to the plating closets that accompanied each station.

Today the chirpy Pallette sat at the front right navigator station, tapping away at her computer. None of the other stations were occupied, as this room, while outfitted for the worst circumstances, was just used for civilian outings. That was fine for Roll. It did make her long for the days when all travelling entailed was a quick teleport. It wasn't as if the Hunters were going to let their anti-teleport fields down any time soon.

"I should be fine. I have what I need right here." Roll patted a bulky item wrapped up in orange cloth. "Does my hair look okay though? I never used to wear headbands, and I get so paranoid that my hair is sticking up funny."

It was her new outfit, that Bass had picked out no less. Roll giggled at the thought. He had given the excuse that it was the first red thing he saw on a rack, but it was so much fun to tease him about it. The flowery blouse was delightful, and so were her red capris. As much as she preferred dresses, she didn't mind the capris at all. They were just so cute.

"Oh, stop fussing about your hair." Pallette knocked on her own head attachments. "At least you _have_ hair."

Roll tittered. "Sorry. But hey, you've got a job to do. You need to be helping Maverick Hunters, not fussing with your looks."

The massive double doors at the back of the room opened, and in came Bass, headfins and all. As reluctant as Roll was herself, Bass seemed more outwardly apprehensive about going. It was because he knew what they would find, Roll guessed.

"Sorry I'm late." he said, going right for the teleportation lab. "I was experimenting, and I lost track of time."

"Says the robot with the built-in chronometer." Pallette winked. "Okay, when do I need to pick you up?"

Bass glanced at Roll assessing her. "Eh...I don't know. It's probably better if I just call you when we're ready."

"I getcha." Pallette programmed the coordinates into her computer and began activating the teleporter pad. "Aw, everyone makes such a fuss about that old robot museum. I've never actually been there. Tell me if it's any good, alright?"

With that, the computers hummed and throbbed, and the teleporter pad glowed a bright neon blue. Shortly thereafter, they appeared in a bright corner of the robot museum, a similar but red teleporter pad this time. The robots stepped out of the narrow teleporter area and found themselves in a magnificent lounge. Bass couldn't help but think that such a place was far too gaudy for robots, but Roll absolutely loved the short, lime green couches that lined the wall and the grand windows that swooped across the left wall. The hill country outside of this window (conveniently facing away from Giga City) was so marvelous that she might have gone on staring at it for hours...if only she didn't have more important business at hand.

She would have been interrupted anyway. Out of the hallway came a tall reploid, one dressed splendidly enough to surpass the outdoor view. Bass gagged. The brunette robot in his eloquent stained glass robe seemed even more dignified than the day the dark robot first met him, and today he donned a special pair of blue-lensed glasses. The petite accessory rested on the tip of his nose, and he smiled at the two first generation robots, raising his arms to welcome them.

"Good morning!" he said. "Good to see you again, Bass. And I see you've brought the lovely Roll. I am Aengus R."

Aengus shook hands with Roll, and she curtsied. "Bass told me a lot about you."

"And I can assure you, not a word of it is true." Aengus winked. "Let's get down to business. Are you ready to see the first generation display? Or would you like to talk first?"

Roll took a deep breath. She was surprised at how perceptive Bass was these days. He knew immediately that she was tense, and was at her side right away. Roll could feel her tenseness melt away.

"I would rather get it over with, to tell the truth." Roll said a bit wistfully. "I know you have my brother's helmet in there, and I want to see it very much. There's just one thing. I have another piece I'd like you to add to your museum. It's only right that they be together."

Roll lifted her package and gently pulled away the orange cloth. Aengus leaned forward eagerly to get a glimpse of the mystery item. Roll took her time unravelling it, but soon enough she revealed a red helmet, accented in grey. A black visor, cracked but still intact, lay in the front of it.

"I had this with me when Bass found me." Roll explained. "It's really dirty right now, but I know your museum can restore it. I know you'll love to have it in your collection. It's not only the helmet of the oldest sentient robot, but the helmet of my brother Proto Man. Please take good care of it."

Aengus' eye nearly popped out of his head. He inspected the helmet eagerly, not daring to touch it, lest he harm it somehow.

_" - This is her __**family**__, you jerk. - " _Bass glared at the museum curator. _" - Try not to act like you just won the lottery. - "_

"Ahem, excuse me." Aengus immediately straightened, trying to force his face into a false neutrality. "Roll, I can assure you that this museum will take the greatest care of your brother's helmet. Both of your brothers'. Now, why don't you follow me, and we'll discuss how you would like it displayed."

Aengus waved his arm down the hall, and both of the robots following him were treated to the magnificent displays set up for the early reploid period. Bass glanced only momentarily at these. Roll, on the other hand, was absorbed in every detail of Dr. Cain's findings. It was indeed Dr. Cain who, in his twenties, had discovered X and unearthed him from his now decrepit laboratory. He dedicated his entire life to creating the reploids. While he only succeeded in this during his later years, historians still referred to this time period as the "Cain Age", acknowledging the one who had changed history almost as much as Dr. Light himself.

"Oh, I wish you didn't hate robot museums so much, Bass." Roll said wistfully. "This place looks so nice. Mr. Aengus must be a wonderful curator. Your display would be just perfect!"

Bass darkened, and Roll was very thankful when Aengus answered instead.

"His display was perfect." Aengus laughed. "Until he broke out of it."

"What? Bass was on _display_?"

"Someone sold me to the museum for a million zenny." Bass' eyes dared Aengus R to keep talking about it. "I figure if they wanted that much for me, I can deal with it."

"It's much more profitable to me for you to be awake, of course." the dark robot's attitude didn't bother the curator in the least. "There is so much about history that we do not know, and I get the first scoop! It's really quite exciting."

"Exciting..." Roll said softly. "I wouldn't call it that. Not after living through it."

"I am very sorry about everything, though. Bass spoke a little of what you've been through, and if there is something you wish to keep to yourself, I won't press you." Aengus assured her. "Perhaps for the museum's purposes a more vague description of history is more important, so that a general idea can be presented for a well-rounded understanding."

Those were a lot of unemotional buzzwords, and Roll appreciated them. All the same, the topic was just too dark for her. She sighed. Over the telecom line she'd promised to speak to Aengus about the past. Only now that it came to the point, she found herself reluctant. Still, she had a few minutes at least to decide what she was going to tell him. For now, she switched to a different topic.

"Bass, why don't you give your helmet to the museum when...I don't know, if you decide to get an updated look."

Bass was nicer to Roll ever since their reactivation in this new century, but one thing about this century Bass didn't like was their robotic style choices. Looking like one of those crazily colored animal things that was all the rage these days certainly didn't appeal to Bass, no matter how much the others teased him about having an eye for fashion. He glared at Roll, knowing exactly what she'd meant.

"I don't plan on dying for a long time. And I'm sure as hell not coming back to a stupid museum." he scoffed.

"You don't have to go on display." Roll said. "You could just give Aengus your helmet. You told me you wanted to be recycled, anyway, so I'd have to recycle you into something cool...like a skateboarding ramp or something."

"Ugh, no skateboarding. Since when is that cool?" Bass snorted. "Make me into a gun. Eh, no offense, Aengus, but I'm sure as hell not letting my helmet be stuck in there with Mega Dweeb and Emo Boy."

"Is it value you're worried about?" Aengus asked. "It shouldn't be. Rock and Proto Man are the oldest robots, yes, but in the scheme of things, you're not much younger than they are. Besides, of the three helmets yours is the most visually striking." Aengus reached over and pinched the nearest head-fin. "Anyone who saw all three on display would be immediately drawn to yours. It's very avant guarde while at the same time maintaining a clean simplicity."

Bass' eyes went upward, and Aengus got the hint. He chortled as he let go of the headfin.

"And really what's wrong with your helmet being with theirs?" Roll smiled, looking appreciably sweet as she did so. "You're my brother too."

Bass rolled his eyes, always sheepish about compliments that didn't have anything to do with fighting. But before Aengus could ask about that, the trio entered the first generation display room.

The room, as it always had been, was small. There wasn't much too it. Since Bass had broken out of it, the place was rather empty looking, especially since , and now an entire wall was dedicated to the little blue helmet within. Roll immediately steered away from it. Instead she spent a full minute gushing over their almost complete first generation mettaul. She then inspected the display that Bass smashed out of. The metaloid "glass" had been removed, but the display itself was still empty, and it was easy to see where the tin plaque had once been. Roll listened as Bass described his escape, but her laughs were hollow.

"If you would like to see how we plan on redesigning the room to better display your brother's helmet, you can see some of our sample blueprints here."

Aengus gestured to a boring folding table in the center of the room. As described, it was a messy display of papers. Roll turned, but she wasn't looking at the blueprints. She'd avoided this long enough. The girl-bot carefully handed Proto Man's helmet to Aengus, then without a word headed for the display case holding Rock's helmet.

Unlike the rest of the room, Mega Man's display case was intact; the double layers of metaloid display glass shielded the helmet from any thief, and only Aengus knew exactly what alarms were hooked into it. Roll noticed or cared about none of that. All she could see was her beloved brother's helmet exactly as it was a century ago. Too exactly. There in the middle of the helmet was the crack made by Epidemic Man's secret blade, the one he had the whole time but kept secret until that horrid moment when it sliced through the helmet, and ended Rock's life.

Roll didn't want to cry. She didn't want to go through this again. But she did. The awful scene returned to her memory like any file brought up by a computer: as clean and real as the day it was recorded. The first sob echoed in the room, followed quickly by the second and the third. Before the fourth sob came, Bass was already by her side. She buried her face in his arms, crying as she never knew she could cry before.

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- Hey y'all. This scene is just a little update for this story, and plotwise it goes between chapters 7 and 8. Before I wrote Afterlife, I was planning on writing a scene more or less like this, only I forgot about it completely. Does that happen to you guys to? Anyway, there was really no place I could put this in the plot structure of the story. Putting it at the beginning of chapter 8 would have contradicted what I was going for, namely a Zero focused chapter where he's dealing with his own inner turmoil. I don't know, it's a pretty generic scene I'm sure I could have shoved in somewhere, but I just don't feel inspired to edit it in somewhere. If I make a deal with Capcom to publish this as a novel (dreamin' big over here) I may find a place for it. It's actually a pretty obvious scene, and as such doesn't really add anything to the plot. I just wanted to put it here to show what I originally intended. I am sad about cutting out another appearance of Aengus R, though.

- Just a reminder, y'all. I know I have a pretty good following for my story series, but with my latest story, Rockman Gao Taosenai, I have been a huge slacker. Admittedly, I needed the time off because I was getting sort of burnt out, but I should be updating regularly and I'm sorry I haven't been. The Starcraft one-shots I've done have been a wonderful break, and now I know I can come back.

This is my commitment to you: I'm going to update regularly until the series ends. Starting off, the twentieth chapter of Rockman Gao Taosenai will be out Monday night. After that, I'm going to update once a week, and you will get regular updates so that you can get the finale of my story and finally find out my complete reasoning for writing this series. It's been a great three years, and I'm so dang proud of myself that I got this far and wrote so long a story. Now all I have to do is write good original fiction, and I'll be set. Thanks a bunch, y'all!


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